Born of Shadows
by Dr. ForgottenFables
Summary: The Fenton Portal opened up a Door to Darkness with Danny inside. And though the boy managed to escape, his heart was still tainted by the darkness. Will Danny manage to hold onto his light, or will he lose himself to the darkness and become just another Heartless? (DannyPhantom X RWBY X KingdomHearts: DP and RWBY main characters, with a Kingdom Hearts plot)
1. Intro: Within the Door

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and three kids, all of them just fourteen years old, were shuffling down the stairs of Fenton Works, down into the basement where the lab was held. They tried to be their absolute quietest in order to go unnoticed by the Fenton parents, though they might as well not have bothered, with all of the noise coming from the storm that rage on outside it would be impossible to hear their footsteps.

The sky had been a unyielding black mass, not allowing a single speck of the light of the other stars shine down from out in space.

"Guys, this is stupid," Tucker mumbled as they made it down to the bottom of the basement and stood in front of their objective; the Fenton Otherworld Portal. "We should just get out of here before we get into trouble." The African American boy was a walking stereotype of techno-geek, with a red beret, thick black rimmed glasses, a ugly yellow sweeter and a bit of a slouch from sitting in front of his computer all day. At the moment he was wondering how he had been talked into this as he filled with the camera in his hand.

"Come on Tucker, don't chicken out on us now," Sam said. The girl was the more adventurous member of the group of kids, constantly dragging the other two along to get into trouble. She had shoulder length black hair that framed her features well, especially her dark purple eyes that steamed to stand out in the room that was only light by the green light coming from the various inventions that were scattered around the room. "Are you even a little curious? I mean, what if it really does lead to an entirely different world?"

"Sam, what's wrong with this world? We've got food, shelter, Internet, why are you so obsessed about going to a different one?" Tucker said more than a little exasperated. The word obsessed really was the right one. Ever since they were all kids, Sam had only wished for one thing, to leave Amity and never come back. "Besides, Danny said that his parents couldn't even get it to work, right Danny? ...Danny?"

"Huh? Sorry Tuck, did you say something?" Danny said as he pulled his eyes away from the octagonal archway that was embedded into the wall. Danny Fenton was rather skinny and had raven black hair and blue eyes that looked like pale stars in the dark room. He was wearing a white hazard suit with a black neck drape and black gloves and boots.

Danny might not have been in on the whole 'never coming back' part of Sam's desire to leave their small world, but he had to admit, he had always wanted to be an adventurer. To explore the furthest stars and come back with tales of his amazing adventures.

"Come on Tucker, we're only taking a picture. It isn't like we are jumping into it head first," Sam said before grabbing the camera from Tucker's hands. "Come on Danny, just go for it."

"R...right," Danny said, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Don't tell me you're chickening out too," Sam said sounding disappointed. She had always known how to press Danny's buttons to get him to keep moving. That was probably why they were best friends.

So Danny stiffened his shoulders and started to walk into the gateway. He had to concentrate on each step forward in order to stop himself from showing just how nervous he really was, He couldn't see at all into the shadows in the back of the device, it felt like they were going to eat him whole.

He had walked all the way into the back of the chamber, his hand resting on the metal surface at the back. Nothing, all that build of, and there was nothing. He felt the tension starting to drain out of his body. But it all came back when the lights in the basement turned on and he heard a familiar voice.

"What are you three doing!?" Jazz Fenton, Danny's older sister, shouted from the stairs. She was just two years older then the other, though she acted a lot more mature than her years. She had long bright orange hair that she keep out of her blue eyes with a sky blue hair band.

"Busted..." Tucker mumbled miserable as he tried to hide himself behind Sam.

"Well... what are you doing here?" Sam tried to counter though she realized they were in trouble.

"Don't give me that. All three of you know you aren't supposed to come down here. Now hurry up and coming back upstairs before someone gets hurt," Jazz said seriously, a look of disappointment cast down at all three of them.

"Right..." Danny said feeling foolish. Getting that one stupid picture was about to land them all in a whole lot of trouble. But on the way out of the tube he slipped on some loose wires.

Stumbling, he reached a hand out for the wall to get some form of support. He froze as he felt a button being pressed down by his palm and a humming starting up all around him.

"Danny!" He hard the others scream as the machine turned on.

Dark mist filled the chamber, swirling quickly around him and bolts of electricity flew through the air around him. Danny could not see anything. He was already starting to panic as the entire world had gone completely black. He tried to move forward, but something was caught on his leg and he stumbled forward, landing on his face.

He turned his head, expecting to see that some wiring had gotten around his leg, but what he saw was much worse. Within the darkness was a deep darkness, one that had a hunched form with two short arms and legs that were grabbed onto Danny's leg. It looked up at him, its head was a round orb with two strange antennas and beady yellow eyes that shown bright in the endless darkness.

Danny gave a panicked shout and tried to through the thing off, but it held tight as he tried to kick it off. Soon, more came grabbing onto his arms and crawling all over his chest. Danny felt unimaginable pain as his chest began to throb.

A large glittering heart started to emerge from his chest, shining brightly in the darkness as his body started to go into convulsions. He screamed in pain as it felt like his skin was being peeled off of him and his body started to turn black, disappearing into the bodies of the other shadow creatures.

The heart began to disappear from his sight as the monsters swarmed it. Danny consciousness disappearing alongside its glow.

* * *

Sam and Tucker were stunned as they saw the archway covered by a dark pool that seemed to eat light. Danny screams were echoing from it, but as if from a great distance.

"What are you doing!? Unplug it!" Jazz shrieked as she ran down the stairs and made for the electrical socket the portal had been plugged into. Her hands fumbled as she tried to gasp the cored, but Tucker grabbed it and gave it a strong pull. "Danny!" Jazz shouted as she looked into the chamber, but it was completely empty. "Danny! Danny!" Jazz shouted as she desperately tried to search for her little brother, but there was no where to search.

"No way," Sam said, horrified.

Jazz fell to her knees inside of the chamber and started to cry. In the course of just a few seconds, her little brother had disappeared, taken from her life.

"Wha... what is that?" Tucker said. "Jazz... your shadow..."

Jazz's eyes slowly opened and she saw that her shadow was moving about on the floor, not really being influenced by the light in the room. Suddenly the shadow disconnected from her completely and moved off, climbing on the walls and ceiling, shifting about everywhere before coming to a stop in the center of the basement floor.

The three remaining children watched in shock as the shadow started to move out of the ground, taking up physical form in front of them. "...Danny..." Jazz whispered in shock as the creature looked up at them with pale, inhuman green eyes.

Danny's white jumpsuit had turned black and the gloves and boots had faded to white, his skin was darker than before and his raven black hair had turned to a snowy white. But Jazz could still recognize him, he was still her little brother.

"Danny!" She shouted, running up to the shadow creature and throw her arms around it. "Danny..." She said again. Tucker and Sam watched as Danny's body began to glow slightly, a ring of white light appearing in the air around him, driving away the darkness and returning him to normal. His head fell down onto his sister's shoulder, and he was fast asleep.

* * *

 **Think I'm going to try to concentrate on this story for a bit.**

 **Generally following Kingdom Hearts 1's set up, but with different worlds. (Such as Travelers Town being replaced by Remnant from RWBY)**

 **Basically Danny has Heartless powers, give him a keyblade later.**

 **Taking suggestions on worlds to visit. Need about more six of them. (I'm already considering Soul Society (Bleach), Death City (Soul Eater) and the human/Digital world (Digimon Tamers), and keeping Hercules's world's story only replacing Cloud with Ichigo)**

 **PS. I don't do Naruto.**


	2. Chapter 1: Dive into the Heart

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

 _'I've been having these weird thoughts lately...'_

 _'...like am I alive...'_

 _'...or not?'_

* * *

Danny was falling. Falling through an empty darkness that surrounded him on all sides, baring down on him like a heavy blanket of shadows that separated him from the rest of existence.

He wasn't sure how fast he was falling, but strangely enough he couldn't feel anything resisting him, as if he was falling through empty space instead of air. His eyes wondered through the shadows, the emptiness around him seeming to mirror the emptiness he felt on the inside.

He closed his eyes, though it really didn't make much of a difference. He was actually surprised at how calm he felt as he was falling through the endless shadows. He felt like he had nothing to fear. Like the darkness couldn't hurt him.

' _So much to do, so little time..._ ' Danny's eyes slowly opened up as he thought he heard a woman's voice, echoing in the world around him. ' _Take your time, don't be afraid._ '

"Afraid... afraid of what?" Danny mumbled, his voice sounded horse and distant in the endless silence. He tilted his head back to see something flouting in the dark ocean.

' _The door is still shut,_ ' Danny heard the voice whisper from the shadows. Danny felt himself slowing down and he did a flip to land on the flouting platform on one knee.

He looked around to see that he was standing on what looked like a large stain glass window display, it was around a hundred feet in diameter and was a was sky blue. But it was filled with holes, and a good deal of the left half of the image was gone, with only a few flouting pieces to help give a clue of what the picture must have once been.

It was a picture of him, dressed in the white jumpsuit. Though the left half of his face and body seemed to have fallen out with the rest of the missing pieces of the window pane, along with the area around his right hand.

' _Your heart is damaged,_ ' The voice chimed in the background as Danny tried to make sense of it all. ' _You must fix it, before it is too late._ '

Suddenly what was left of the pane started to crack. Danny panicked, backing away from the edges, but there was no getting away from it. The platform shattered and he was left falling into the darkness again.

' _But don't worry..._ ' The voice said as Danny fell though the empty air. ' _There are others who will help support you._ ' Danny closed his eyes as he felt a sudden rush of hot wind pressing against his face. A half second later he opened his eyes to see he was standing on a new stained glass platform. This one was completely whole and a mixture of red and yellow. A depiction of Tucker leaning up against one of the sides of the outer frame looked up at him, grinning his usual grin. All around the edge was an assortment of ones and zeros. ' _Now step forward._ '

Danny took a few cautionary steps forward, not entirely sure it was a good idea to listen to the voice, but having nowhere else to go. ' _Power sleeps within you,_ ' The voice said as three spots lit up on the floor. ' _If you give it form, it will give you strength._ ' Three tables rose up out of the ground and in a flash of light three objects appeared above them; a sword, a shield, and a wand.

Danny looked hard at each item in turn. "What? Am I supposed to pick one?" He asked, but the voice didn't give a clear answer.

' _The power of the Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destructive force,_ ' The voice said, seeming to be talking about the power the sword represented. It was a broad sword, looked to be around three and a half feet long with a wide guard that had a symbol made up of three circles, one in the middle with two partially overlapping it on the top sides. The thing reminded Danny of mouse ears for some reason.

' _The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all._ ' The shield was a rather large kite shield, one that was half the size of Danny himself. It was mostly black with red trim and a red 'mouse' symbol on the front of it.

' _The power of the Mystic. True wisdom. A staff of wonder and ruin._ ' The staff was around the same size as the sword, with a long green poll and a blue 'mouse' symbol top.

' _Which is the power you choose?_ ' The voice asked.

"So... each of the objects represents a virtue," Danny mumbled as he looked at each one. "Courage, compassion, and wisdom."

He tried to think which one he valued the most. He knew which ones his friends would pick. Sam would have chosen the sword in a heartbeat. She always wished to press forward even when the outcome wasn't curtain. It was one of the things Danny admired about her.

Tucker would have picked the staff. He liked to know the results of his decisions before he made them, valuing a guaranteed win over the rewards that could be obtained by taking a risk. His insights were always a big help, and Danny didn't know were he would be without him.

But what about Danny? He wasn't sure he knew. He valued courage and being prepared, but he didn't think that they were the things that meant the most to him.

Regardless how many times he looked at the other two, his eyes always shifted to the third option. The shield, the simple of kindness. He remembered all the times that he would be bullied in elementary school and who his sister always shielded him away from it, taking the waste of the insults about their parents herself and always tried to comfort him afterwards.

The shield would have been Jazz's symbol. And it was that part of her character, not her brains or her proud, but her kindness that Danny had always admired about his sister, even if he never admitted it. That was the kind of person he wanted to be.

Danny walked up and garbed the shield. ' _Is this the power you seek?_ ' The voice asked.

"It is," Danny said, trying to sound sure.

' _You have chosen the power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all,_ ' The shield disappeared from his hand leaving the other two objects behind. ' _Now... what you will give up in exchange?_ '

"What!?" Danny shouted in panic. He was supposed to give one up. How you he decide which one he was going to lose? Both courage and wisdom were important.

It didn't help the mater that he had been comparing them to his friends. In his mind's eye he saw Sam and Tucker standing their before him, and that he was told he had to let one of them go. He had never been able to pick sides whenever his friends had argued. He just couldn't do it. He couldn't choose.

"I... I can't..." Danny said backing away from the objects.

' _Choose what you will give up in exchange!_ ' The voice said.

"No... I won't..." Danny said again, shaking his head and putting his hands over his ears to block out the voice.

' _CHOOSE!_ ' Voice voice seemed to echo all around him.

"I won't!" Danny roared back, his felt anger rush up in side of him. His eye bursting into green flames as shadows whipped around his ankles.

The voice was silent for a few seconds. ' _So you will not choose?_ ' I said, sounding disappointed in Danny. The pane beneath him began to shatter and his imagined images of Sam and Tucker started to fall away into the darkness.

"Sam, Tucker!" Danny shouted rushing out towards them only for them to disappear as the pane disappeared, leaving Danny to fall though the darkness again.

' _Just remember that those who cannot willing give something up... often lose everything in the end,_ ' The voice said, almost as if to mock Danny as he fell head first down into the shadows.

Just like before another pane started to rush into view. This one was dark purple and black and had an image of Sam in a dark ballroom dress. Her eyes were closed and she didn't smile as she looked out of the glass.

As Danny approached the glass platform, he slowed to a halt, so that he landed gently on his feet. As he looked around the surrounding area he felt something entering his right hand. Looking down he found that he was holding the shield from before. It was surprisingly light for its size, and Danny could move it around with ease.

' _You've gained the power to fight,_ ' The voice said as shadows began to move along the surface of the pane. ' _Use this power to protect yourself and others._ ' Danny heart nearly froze as the black creatures that had attacked him in the Otherworld Portal started to push themselves out of the surface. ' _There will be times when you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong._ '

"Oh man! I should have picked the sword!" Danny shouted as one of the creatures jumped at him. He lifted his shield and bared his heels in the ground. And to his surprise he was able to hold them off. Swinging the shield out he forced the dark creatures back. "Ok... maybe I can do this," Danny said, a grin spreading across his face.

' _Behind you,_ ' The voice said. Danny was half convinced that the voice was just trying to make him mad when he felt himself being tackled to the ground from behind. One of the creatures had gotten around him and flanked him.

He saw the thing clearly, its beady yellow eyes and clawed fingers moving towards his chest. Danny's eyes opened wide as he remembered the feel of those fingers. "Back... off!" Danny shouted, baring his teeth at the shadow creature.

Black flames that had a bit of a green hew to them shot from Danny's left hand, straight into the little creature, blasting it off of him and sending it flying across the stain platform. Danny blinked in shock and looked down at his head, the dark aura still shifting around it.

Seeing what happened, the other shadows seemed to back off. ' _The darkness may grant you great strength,_ ' The voice said in a disapproving voice. ' _But you must be careful._ ' Wisps of darkness start to come out of the ground beneath Danny, grabbing onto him and pulling him down.

"Wha... Let me go!" Danny shouted as he tried to struggle against being pulled under.

' _Those who hide in the darkness are always consumed by it,_ ' The voice said as Danny was pulled under the surface of the dark pool.

The shadows disappeared as light burst through the platform beneath Danny. But when the boy looked down, he found he was on an entirely different platform. This was bluish white with orange around the rim and held an image of his sister in a sky blue gown. Like with Sam's image, her eyes were closed, but she wore a kind smile rather than a serious line.

' _The light may drive away the darkness..._ ' The voice echoed all around Danny, but Danny own shadow became longer as the light continued to shine. ' _But the closer you get to the light, the greater the shadows will become._ ' Danny's shadow began to move out of the ground, taking a shape similar to the shadows before it, only three times bigger. The shadow creature opened a mouth of sorts and let out a screeching sound. ' _If you want to protect everyone, then you must fight._ '

The shadow charged forward and Danny swung his shield at it, hitting it across the face, knocking it across the floor. But then the shadow sank beneath the surface of the stain glass and started to move around underneath, trying to get behind Danny. But this time Danny jumped to the side as the creature tried to attack him from behind.

Danny then jumped on the monster's back, and used his shield to press it against the ground. Once it was pinned he lifted the shield above him with both hand and started to smash the creature again and again with the shield until it popped into black smoke. Danny was left panting from the short struggle against the beast.

' _The battles will be hard..._ ' The voice said flatly. Danny turned his head to see stepping stones forming in thin area, leading off of the platform. ' _But if you wish to protect them, you will have to keep moving._ '

Danny stood up. "You really need to get away from all of these fortune cookies," Danny said, starting to get anger at this disembodied voice. But it wasn't like he had much of a choice. So putting one foot in front of another, he started to climb the stairs, not knowing what he would find.

Surprisingly enough at the top of it was a door. "Why couldn't you just have had the door down on the other platform? What's with the magic flouting stairs? Are you trying to empress me or something?"

' _Just go through the damn door,_ ' The voice said angrily.

"Oh, so you actually can hear me," Danny muttered before reaching out. But his hand stopped before he turned the knob. "There aren't going to be more of those creatures behind this door... are there?"

' _...No..._ ' The voice said.

"You hesitated there for a second," Danny said, pulling his hand away from the door.

' _Fine, don't use the door,_ ' The voice said angrily. The stairs fell out from beneath Danny and he was sent falling into the abyss again.

This time, his landing was not gentle, hitting his head hard again the newest platform. "Ouch," Danny said, knowing that the voice was probably pretty pleased with itself. "That wasn't very nice." Danny looked down to see that he was on a completely version of the platform were he had started, with a full picture of him. Only the color was all wrong. In every spot were their had been pieces missing from the original stain glass, the colors seemed out of place. Rather than the sky blue colored background there was a venomous green. The half of Danny's body that had been filled in seemed to have its colors reversed. The hair was snow white, and white of his jumpsuit had been switched off with a black color.

' _Your path will not be an easy one. You will have to fight powerful evils..._ ' The voice trailed off. Danny got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he slowly turned around.

Standing over him was a giant as big as a two story building. The monster had a more human shape than the previous shadows. It was dressed in black armor with a heavy black cloak, and horns were stinking out a a helmet on top of its head. A snarling, pasty white face revealed huge sharp teeth that were being bared at Danny. One of its eyes was covered by an eyepatch but the other was dark red and glaring at the boy beneath it with a hungry look. It was easily distinguishable against the surrounding darkness by a crown made of dark green metal covered in flames that sat on top of its head.

[**First Boss: King of Shadows: Pariah Dark**]

Danny couldn't even move as he looked up at the massive creature that leaned over him. He had hardly been able to handle the littler ones, but this thing was huge. He didn't need a shield, he needed the Giant Wall of China to stop that thing.

Danny didn't snap out of it until he saw one of the monster's colossal hands swinging down at him in a wide sweeping motion. Danny barely had time to lift up his shield to take the brunt of the attack. The force of it caused him to lose his footing and sent him skidding across the platform.

Pain shot up through Danny's right arm from the ringing shield he had refused to let go of, holding onto it with a death grip, as if it was his final life line.

Struggling to push himself up, Danny saw the dark king's hands glowing a mixture of black and dark crimson. The creature released the orbs from his hands, letting them flout up into the sky above them. Moments later dozens of smaller orbs started to rain down from the sky.

Danny tried to pull his shield into the way, but it didn't cover all of him and he screamed in pain as his legs took several hits. The pain, this was no dream, the pain was so strong, echoing through his entire body as he lay on the ground, unable to even move.

But that didn't stop the beast from continuing. It smashed its hand into the surface beneath them and the arm sank into the ground to just above the wrist. A dark pool spread across the surface of Danny's windowpane until it looked as if Danny was simply flouting in side of the void.

"This... this is impossible." Danny muttered as he felt himself disappearing into the void. "I can't do it... I'm just a kid." Danny's eyes started to flutter closed, blocking out what little light was still left in the darkest of places.

But his eyes shot open again as a roar of pain shook the platform they were on. As the darkness started to retreat, Danny saw the sword and wand from before flying around the giant. Bolts of electricity came from the top of the wand striking the creatures skin as the blade moved back and forth over the thing's black armor.

"Danny! Don't be such a quitter!" Sam's voice rang through the air, almost as if the sword was talking. "Just because it seems hard doesn't mean you should give up!"

"But... what if I fail?" Danny said still a little dazed from the pain.

"Then bad things will probably happen. So you probably should actually try to win. Because if you don't, you'll fail for sure." Tucker's voice said, seeming to come from the wand.

"You didn't give up on us! So stop giving up on yourself! If the rules don't allow it, then just screw the rules and find a way!" Sam voice said.

"Danny... we will help you. But you need to help yourself." Jazz said echoed from the shield in Danny's hand.

Danny looked up at the giant creature in front of him as it tried to bat away the staff and sword. But as he watched, the numbness that had taken over him since the titan had first appeared started to disappear. His heart's rapid beat returned to a standing pace. His mind began to clear. He couldn't let himself lose. He would do whatever it took, no matter what.

As the shadow giant finally knocked away the staff and sword it turned toward Danny to see darkness flowing all around him as he stood in front of the giant with his eyes closed. Only it was coming from the boy this time. Danny's eyes opened to show bright green orbs that shown like twin stars, piercing through the darkness that surrounded them on all sides.

"I'm ready." He said, his voice seeming to echo in the hollow space.

The giant throw its right hand above its head, shadows pushing out from it, twisting around each other to form a mace that was twice the size of Danny's whole body. But the boy didn't even flinch, not even as the giant started to bring it down on his head.

Dust was scattered through the air as the mace smashed into the ground where Danny had been standing. But as the dust settled there was no sign of him. The giant looked about for a few moment before it noticed a shadow moving about on the surface of the platform.

The shadow stopped and Danny slowly started to rise up out of the ground, completely untouched. Only now he had bleached white hair and was dressed in the black jumpsuit. "Lets try this again." Danny said as he tightened his grip on his shield.

The giant swung its mace at Danny yet again, but the boy jumped back with amazing ease and speed, out of its reach. Then the boy rushed forward, jumping up onto the shadow's arm, running up to hit face before swinging the shield hard into the side of its face. The giant gave a shocked cry as one of its horns cracked and felt down to shatter on the ground. Its fiery crown also fell from its head, hitting the ground a few times before blinking out of existence.

The giant countered by forming another one of the crimson orbs in its left hand and threw it at Danny, only for it to be batted aside by the shield as Danny did a flip through the air landing on the opposite side of the panel. Danny turned to the giant, sporting a confident grin as he stared through the beast with his green eyes. "The shield that repels all. Knew it was a keeper." Danny said before running full speed at the giant.

It pulled back its mace, preparing for another attack but Danny raised his free hand as three shorts and the black and green energy that surrounded him fired up into the monster's single eyes, blinding him and stopping his attack.

"I win!" Danny shouted and he jumped at a large heart like mark on the center of the giant's chest, pushing the bottom point of the kite shield into it. The giant struggled for a few seconds before falling down onto its back and stopped moving. There was a small flash of light and the massive body disappeared.

Danny stood up and grinned as he stared at a glowing crystal like heart where the monster had been. His green eyes were so focused on the glittering thing, it was all that seemed to be real in the endless ocean of darkness. It made Danny feel... hungry... Danny grinned showing his own teeth as one hand still covered in the dark shadows started to reach out towards the heart to grab hold of it.

"Danny, don't!" Jazz's voice echoed from Danny's shield, causing him to stop mere inches away from touching the heart. Danny stumbled back, his free hand moving up to cover his face.

"What... what was I about to do?" Danny said to himself, though he knew the answer. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach, where he was still hungry.

' _You will be drawn to the darkness within people's hearts, just like all the others._ ' The voice from before chimed from its unknown origin. ' _But be warned. Should you give in to this dark hunger, then you will be consumed by the darkness yourself._ '

The heart started to drift upwards, out of Danny's reach as the boy looked up to see if flouting off to disappear into the nothingness. And just like that, everything went dark, as the last of the world's light left with the heart.

"Danny... It's time to wake up." Danny's eyes fluttered open to see him mother standing in the doorway, wearing her usual sky blue jumpsuit and goggles. "Hurry it up. You don't want to be late for your first day of school, do you?"

His mom ducked back out of the room and went back down stairs to help make breakfast for her family, leaving a dazed Danny behind.

"Was... it all just a dream?" Danny mumbled as he looked down at his own hands. But after a moment's concentration, small wisps of the dark green aura appeared around his finger tips. Danny shivered at the feeling. None if it had only been a dream.

He looked out the window at the still cloudy sky. Something down in the pit of Danny's gut told him that something was wrong, and that whatever had happened to him, it was only just the beginning.


	3. Chapter 2: The End of Amity

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

The shadow creatures were crawling all over him, he could feel their clawed fingers digging into his arms and legs as pain filled every fiber of his being. Danny watched as the crystal heart appeared from his chest, flouting up into the darkness above him. The creatures started to turn their attention way from Danny's body in order to reach hungrily of his heart, the light coming from within the crystal heart slowly darkening with each of the monsters that touched it.

"No," Danny tried to say, but all that came out where the strangled sounds of a man who was slowly choking to death. His vision was blurring as swirls of dark mist started to form within his heart. Danny reached out to it, like a drowning man instinctively trying to grasp at air, though he couldn't even remember why he needed it as each second stretched on like an eternity.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, a thing that was beyond blinding the world of darkness, and all of the shadow beasts were gone. Standing in their place was a young woman.

The woman looked like she was around seventeen and had medium length silverish blue hair and crystal blue eyes that looked down at the boy with a look of pity. The girl was so bright, seeming like a star in the endless shadows. "It looks like his heart has already been touched by the darkness." She said, though she didn't seem to be talking to Danny. She was talking to two objects that looked like giant keys that were flying around them.

One of the keys, the shorter one that had a bit more of a curve to it started to hum. The girl nodded as if she understood what the key was saying. "You're right. He still has some light left in him. But it will only be a mater of time before the darkness takes it over and he becomes a Heartless as well," The girl said. Danny's eyes looked up at her, begging for help as he continued to gasp for what his body was laking. But his eyes were no longer their usual crystal blue, they had turned a cold golden yellow and the whites were fading to black. "His body has already started the process."

The larger key hummed in response. "You were a different case Terra, your light was a lot stronger from your connection to the keyblade and you had something to fight for," The girl said to the larger of the two keys.

'Key...blade?' Danny's fading mind wondered.

Both of the keys began to sing then. "Alright, you two win. Gang up on me why don't you. And I suppose there is no harm in trying to help him," The girl said with a short sigh before turning towards Danny's still flouting heart. She reached out a hand and placed one finger on its surface. A spark of light appeared were her finger touched the crystal heart, looking like a star on the otherwise darkening surface. "I give you this seed of light, but it is up to you to make it grow. Be strong and kind and this will be your beacon of light, no mater how dark things become."

The heart slowly began to lower into Danny's chest again, becoming one with his body. But then his body began to convulse as it seemed to be trying to reject the heart that had just returned to its rightful place. Dark aura started to leak out of Danny's pours, covering his body in a blanket of shadows, darkening his skin and changing the color of his clothes, his eyes burned a bright green as if his old blue eyes were trying to fight with the invading yellow and the two colors were blending together. He screamed as the color drained from his hair, leaving a snowy white. He looked up at the girl who had closed her eyes, as if it was too painful for her to look at Danny's crumpling form.

Danny could no longer hold out against the pull of the darkness as he slipped into an unconscious state.

* * *

Danny sat up with a jolt, falling out of his chair and too the ground, on hand over his chest as if to check to be sure he still had a heart. He only started to relax when he recognized the heavy pounding in his chest as his heartbeat.

"Sleeping in class are we, Mr. Fenton?" Danny looked up to see Mr. Lancer, his new Language Arts teacher standing over him, his arms folded and a look of disapproval on his face. The middle aged teacher was more than just on his way to balding, only having hair behind his ears and on his back, and his gut stuck out a give five inches from the rest of him. Danny's sister had told him he was a good person if you stayed on his good side, but Danny had the feeling he just made a horrible first impression. "Not the best way to start a new school year." The teacher added, the other students started to laugh at Danny's expense, Tucker giving him a look of concern while Sam just glared at the teacher.

"I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again," Danny apologized weekly.

The teacher practically scoffed. "I was hoping that would you be a model student like your sister. But I can see now that was just wishful thinking," Mr. Lancer said before turning around and returning to the board.

Danny looked down more than a little ashamed as he returned to his seat. He was always being compared to his perfect sister, and whenever the comparison came up, Danny always fell short. When standing next to her brilliance, how could Danny help being anything but an insignificant shadow.

"Hey man, you alright?" Tucker whispered over to his best friend from the seat next to him.

"I'm fine, just didn't get a very good nights sleep," Danny said, he momentarily wondered if he looked as tired as he felt. Even if everything that had happened was a dream, he still felt sore all over from whatever had happened in the basement. He shivered at the thought of the dark portal that had tried to consume him. That was the word Danny had decided on to describe it; 'consume'. It had sure felt like the thing had tried to eat him alive. He was just lucky that turning the machine off had gotten him out of it.

Or had it? Did Danny ever truly leave that darkness behind, or was he now carrying it with him. Danny didn't have to look down to feel it as he summoned the shadows to flicker around his fingers from underneath his desk. They felt cold and stiff, like that feeling you get when you cut off the blood flow to your hand and it feels like pins and needles are being poked into your fingers.

Danny was so distracted by this feeling that he neglected to look at the clock on the walls. He nearly fell out of his seat again as the school bell rang, signaling the end of class.

"Finally its lunch time! I'm going to eat until I puke," Tucker somehow said with a grin.

"So you're going to kill an entire family worth of animals yourself just for your enjoyment. You don't need to eat that much. Actually, you shouldn't eat meat in general," Sam said crossing her arms and glaring at her friend.

The argument was practically routine, it came up every time the two of them were going to go an eat something. Sam was a vegan and refused to eat meat or anything that was taken from animals, saying that it was equivalent to slavery and murder. Where as Tucker's view was closer to the animals would have never been born if people weren't going to eat them, and that being delicious was evolutionary beneficial for the animal. Making eating them simply part of the natural order.

Usually the argument made Danny groan with exasperation, but the familiarity of it all was comforting after everything that had happened. It was like an anchor for reality. "Guys, I need to get my lunch from my locker. I'll meet you at the cafeteria," Danny said, turning down G hall and walking towards his locker as everyone else rushed for the lunch hall.

Danny arrived at his locker and pulled the piece of paper for the combination out of his pocket, since he had yet to memorize the thing yet. 27... 52... 06... Danny spun the dial to the right numbers and gave the locker a pull, but the thing didn't open. Grunting with annoyance he did it again, and then again, but the locker refused to open. Giving it a harder pull the knob on the locker fell completely off.

"Oh come on!" Danny said smacking the locker. Things were just not going his way. He sighed, closing his eyes as he leaned against the locker. He was tired, even after the nap in his language arts class. Those dreams were hardly restful as his body tensed up at the vivid images and feeling and the heavy atmosphere of the dark and silent settings.

Not to mention the nagging knowledge that he got that it wasn't just him dreaming. A fact that was reinforced further when he felt himself slipping forwards as the arm he had been resting on the locker faded into a shadow and sank into the locker, causing Danny to fall forward and hit his nose on the locker door before falling back on his butt.

"Ouch," Danny said rubbing his face as he started to stand up. But the experience had thrown his mind and heart into chaos. What was going on? He looked back and forth to make sure no one had seen it before letting out a held breath and looking back to his locker. An internal struggle raging in side of him. He was scared of this strange darkness, worried about what it meant and what it would do to him. But at the same time it was fascinating, he wanted to explore it, learn its limits and see if he couldn't control it.

Finally the thing that decided it was his stomach. As his belly demanded food, Danny bit his lip, checking again to make sure that no one was looking. The hallway was empty, everyone was either at lunch or in their class rooms. So Danny placed a hand over the locker. Willing it to turn into a shadow he pressed it through the slit on the door and opened the locker up.

As the door swung open, Danny wasn't sure what to feel or think. What were you supposed to feel when you suddenly seem to have dark powers that you don't understand? He had been told that the teenage years were going to come with a lot of changes, but he was fairly curtain that was just a metaphor for puberty and this was definitely not that.

Danny tried to stop thinking about it, grabbing his lunch and closing the door to his locker. Suddenly, he wasn't very hungry anymore.

* * *

After school ended, Danny cut off from his friends in order to walk home. He was still tired, even more tired than before since classes were boring and he had trouble stomaching his lunch, especially with thoughts of dark creatures eating hearts running through him mind. The worst part was, he thought he was catching himself wondering how they did it, and what they tasted like. It was enough to cause his stomach to turn.

Jazz had to stay after school for some kind of student support group that Danny didn't really understand, though he was pretty sure that being forced into being a part of it was a bad sign, so naturally Jazz had volunteered. So Danny was walking home alone in relative silence.

Actually, make that complete silence. Danny wasn't sure what was going on, but the streets were completely silent, not even the birds making the slightest noise at all. Danny couldn't even hear any cars.

"Could things get more depressing," Danny mumbled. Then the universe replied with a clap of thunder and the first few drops of what promised to be a long and heavy storm. "Of course it can!"

Danny started to run for the next four blocks back to his house, slamming to door behind him as he got out of the rain. He cursed his luck as he when for the bathroom to get a towel to dry himself off. But on his way their he thought he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

He turned his head to see that the door to the basement was opening and a figure that Danny didn't have enough time to get a good look at was walking down it. "Mom... dad!?" Danny called out, though he had saw enough to tell that the person going down those stairs wasn't wearing a hazard suit, so it couldn't have been one of his parents.

Ignoring his wet and cold body, Danny started to follow the figure down into the basement. When Danny saw the man he froze. The person in question was rather tall at just above six foot three and was dress in the most outlandish dark brown robs that Danny had ever seen. The boy couldn't even see the intruders face since it was completely wrapped in red cloth, only leaving one eye and his mouth visible.

But that wasn't the thing that was making Danny's heart stop beating. The man was standing in front of the portal archway looking at it with unusual interest. "Get away from there!" Danny shouted, his fear clear in his voice. But the man either didn't hear him, or didn't bother to listen. "Seriously you don't know what that thing is! Just get away from it!"

"Do not believe for a second that a mere shadow like yourself can give me orders," The man said in a stern and condescending voice. "I have come to see the door to this world, and you will not stop me."

"Door to... this world?" Danny said, shocked at being called a shadow. Could this man really tell what was going on with him.

"This world has been connected," The man said, more to himself than Danny. "Tied to the darkness, soon to be Eclipsed completely." He then turned showing Danny a single blue eye underneath the bandages. "In that regard it is very much like yourself."

"You... you know what is happening to me?" Danny asked, but the man didn't answer. "Please... please just tell me. I have to know." Danny begged shivering from the combination of the cold, fear and exhaustion.

"I could tell you, but it wouldn't do you any good," The man said with a scoff. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Danny gritted his teeth angrily. "Tell me!" He shouted, clenching his fists which started flicker with the dark green shadows. "What is happening to me!?"

"Danny!? What are you doing down there!?" Jazz shouted. Danny looked up at the door as his sister turned the corner to look down the stairs to the basement. "Didn't you learn your lesson!? And why are you shouting!?"

"Jazz stay back! There is something off about this guy!" Danny shouted up the stairs.

"Guy? What guy?" Jazz said, her voice more confused. Danny turned back around to find that the robed figure had disappeared. "Danny, there is no one there."

"What? But how did he..." Danny said looking around trying to find any trace that the man was there to began with. "I swear, he was here. A man in a ugly robe. His face was covered in red bandages."

"Danny... are you feeling okay?" Jazz said, sounding worried.

"Jazz, I know what I saw!" Danny insisted.

"Danny, it's alright. Anyone would be having problems after what you've been through," Jazz said in a calming voice.

"You... you think I'm going crazy," Danny said, his eyes widening with a look of betrayal. "I'm not... I'm not going crazy!" He didn't really know who he was trying to deny it to, Jazz or himself.

"Danny please, lets go upstairs, dry you off, and we can talk about this." Jazz said walking down the stairs towards him.

"I'm not going crazy!" Danny shouted again, tears coming to his eyes as he pushed past Jazz and ran up the stairs.

"Danny please, just talk to..." Jazz started as she ran up the stairs after Danny to see that he was running for the front door. But he was to busy whipping the tears out of his eyes to open it. Instead he ran straight through the door, seeming to turn into a shadow on it's surface before slipping through it. "Danny..?" Jazz mumbled as her eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped.

* * *

Mrs. Foley was hard at work cooking a meal large enough to satisfy her son and husband when she heard the doorbell ring.

"I wonder who that could be," She said to herself as she turned down the flame on her stove and whipped her hands on her apron before going to answer the door.

As she open it she found Danny standing there, socking wet and shivering. "Danny, what are you doing sweetie? You shouldn't be out in the rain," Mrs. Foley said as she pulled the boy inside.

"I'm... I'm sorry Mrs. Foley," Danny said, his voice was cracking, as if he was struggling to hold back sobs. The boy was pale and he's eyes refused to move up from the ground. "I'm... I mean... Is it alright if I stay here for the night. I... I can't go home right now."

"Oh of course," Mrs. Foley said, not wanting the boy to go running back out into the storm. "You just go upstairs to the bathroom and dry off. I'll get some of Tucker's clothes for you to change into," She said. Danny nodded and went to do as he was told.

Mrs. Foley went up to her son's room to tell him that his friend seemed to be in bad sorts and to get the clothes. She would call Danny's parents and tell them he was safe once things settled down.

"Tucker dear, your friend Danny is here," Mrs. Foley told her son who looked a little surprised to hear it. "I think he is having a little trouble at home, so he wants to stay the night here. If he says anything that makes you worried then please tell me, but don't press."

"R...right," Tucker said, nodding in agreement. Sure Danny's home life had never been the best with his parents never having time for him, and when they were around they just bossed him around and asked why he didn't do as well as his sister in school. His parents hardly even knew anything about their kids.

This was no big secret, even Tucker's parents knew about it, but it had never been enough to make Danny runaway from home. Tucker had a feeling it was more than that, and that it had something to do with the accident that happened just days ago.

"Good, now I need some clothes so that he can change out of his wet ones. Can you give me some?" Mrs. Foley asked nicely.

"Sure, I think we even have some of his spares lying around," Tucker said before retrieving one of the white shirts with the red dots in the center of it and blue shorts. He had to get out some of his own boxers though, not that it was a big deal, no one could see it anyways.

Mrs. Foley took the clothes over to the bathroom and was about to knock when she noticed that the door hadn't been shut properly. Looking in through the crack in the door she gasped in shock. Danny stood there in the center of her bathroom looking into the mirror, his shirt was off, revealing several marks on his chest. They looked like several small cuts, as if something had been clawing at the boy's chest.

They weren't proportioned right for them to be self-inflected. It made the mother wonder if she should be calling the boy's parents, or the police. She wanted to ask him about it, but she had been told that you are never supposed to press the victim of abuse for answers, especially when the abuse was so clearly recent. If Danny talked, then he would talk.

She was finding it hard to believe that Jack or Maddie would do anything to hurt their son. They might not have been the best parents, but they won't monsters. She would have to make a plan for how to monitor Danny for the next few days. And if she found out anything she would report it immediately.

Mrs. Foley knocked on the door causing Danny to jump and cover the marks with his old shirt. "You're in luck, we have some of your clothes still here," She said as she placed the clothes on the counter without moving through the door, or making it seem like she had line of sight on him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Foley," Danny said quickly, hoping she hadn't seen anything.

"Don't mention it dear. Now I need to get back to preparing dinner. You know were Tucker's room is," She said in a cheery voice. But then she added. "And remember Danny, that we are always here for you if you need to talk."

"...I know... that's kind of why I'm here," Danny said quietly. Mrs. Foley smiled before closing the door behind her.

* * *

Tucker looked over to his door when he heard it opening and he was a little shocked when he saw the condition his friend was in. He had only parted ways with Danny just a few hours ago after school. He had already thought Danny looked a bit tired, but now he looked down right ill.

His spiked hair was pushed down from being in the ran and was even more of a mess than normal, and he was so pale and his shoulders were so low that it looked as if he was going to collapse at any second. He looked up at Tucker and his friend could see a shacky panic in his blood shot eyes that he had never seen in Danny before.

"Man... you look like shit," Tucker said bluntly. A second passed and Danny gave a weak chuckle.

"Seriously, I come all this way through the rain, and that is the first thing you say?" He said a little indignantly, but he did smile slightly. "You've got no sense of tact."

"I do too. I just save it all for the ladies," Tucker said with a grin. "Got to be easy on them when I put them down. It's just too bad there isn't enough Tucker Foley for everyone." Danny closed his eyes, smiling as he listened to Tucker's joking bravado. It was so comforting to hear it. "Look man, if you don't want to talk, I'll understand. We can just play some Doom to get your mind off..."

"No, Tuck. I need to talk about this," Danny said his chin falling. "Tucker... I'm I losing it?" Tucker looked confused, what was Danny losing? "I can feel. Those things. I can feel their claws on me. I feel their... their taint inside of me," Danny said, hugging himself and shivering. His sentences were coming out in short spurts.

"Danny calm down, and explain slowly. you're not making sense," Tucker said, not knowing what to do as his best friend started to have a break down in front of him.

"Tell me Tuck. Can you see it? Can you see it? Or is it all in my head?" Danny said holding out his hands. At first Tucker wasn't sure what Danny was talking about, but that he saw the black shadowy flames that had a greenish hue flickering around his fingers.

"Danny... What is that?" Tucker asked in wide eyed awe.

"So... it is real," Danny said, though he didn't sound that comforted by it. "But then... what is happening to me?"

"Danny, how about you tell me what happened?" Tucker said as he grabbed one of his rolling chairs and slide it across the floor to Danny.

"When the portal opened their were these... shadow things," Danny said as he sat down. "They were around the size of a fair sized dog, and they had these huge yellow eyes and... they had claws," Danny said shivering again. "They did something to me, they pulled out my... I think it was my heart, and they were trying to eat it or something. Then something happened and they disappeared. There was this woman and some giant flouting keys, and she said a lot of things I didn't understand, and put my heart back inside of me. Next thing I knew I was walking up outside of the portal."

Tucker tried not to look skeptical. There was plenty of evidence that 'something' weird was going on.

"Then I started having these nightmares, and the creatures were in them. Only they feel like they are more than that. Like they are real," Danny said looking down at his hands. "Then I started to notice things. Like these shadow things, and I could move through walls as a shadow..."

"Did you go into the girl's locker room?" Tucker asked quickly.

"What... I hadn't thought of that..." Danny said, blinking a bit. "I guess I was just freaking out about everything."

"Far enough, but you've got to do it at some time," Tucker said with a shrug.

Danny scoffed, grateful for what Tucker was trying to do. His friend wanted to cheer him up, show him that everything was okay.

"Then when I got back from school today, there was this guy in our basement. He said a lot of weird things about the worlds beyond the door and that the world was coming to an end, or something," Danny said weakly. "He also said... that I was going to become one of those creatures."

Tucker frowned got up and walked over to Danny putting a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me man," he said and forced Danny to look him in the eyes. "You look like shit." Danny couldn't help it, it was just so out of place and so expertly timed that he broke into snorting laughter.

"Seriously Tucker?" Danny said through his chuckles.

"Fine, you seriously look like shit," Tucker said again straightening up. "Hey, you can't even kick my butt. I don't think their is any chance of you turning into a rampaging monster. Heck, I have to worry that the flies are picking on you for being weak and defenseless," Tucker joked waving Danny off. "So this is what we are going to do. First we are going to get a good old fashion Foley family meal in your stomach, then I'll get my mom to give you some sleeping pills so you can get a good nights sleep, then tomorrow you are going into the girl's locker room, then we will see where things go from there."

Tucker started to head for the door. "Listen man, I'm going to tell my mom that you are just having nightmares because of the accident in the basement and need to get away from there for a while, so just relax. I don't care what some stupid doom sayer says, you're my friend and you won't be turning evil on us. But I swear, if you even think of killing yourself over this, I will never forgive you," Tucker said before leaving Danny to go and talk to his mom.

Danny smiled gratefully as he leaned back in his chair. He was so relieved after talking with Tucker. He was lucky to have a friend like him. Sam too, though Sam's parents would have called the cops if Danny had shown up on their door step.

His friends made him feel like everything was going to be alright, and that it was okay from him to just be himself. He didn't need to worry about any of this stuff. Tucker was right, not mater what happened, it could wait until tomorrow.

Or at least, that's what he thought.

'Your adventure begins in the dead of night. Your road won't be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey's end.'

* * *

Danny was in the dark again, back on the odd platform with the half and half depiction of him. He had not been able to give the stain glass a proper look last time, but now he could see it in its entirety, he saw that the left hand was covered in the shadows that had started to pop up ever since the accident. And in the right hand was a chain that ended in a small ornament that was in the shape of a black heart outlined in white with a sky blue 'x' over it.

Looking about him, Danny spotted something else that hadn't been there before. A small pure white tree covered in small white buds that might one day become flowers. Danny walked over to it, spellbound, kneeling before the thing. He didn't know how long he was staring at it, but he was brought out of it by a voice.

"How long are you just going to sit there drooling over that thing?" A snide voice said behind Danny in a strange echoing voice.

Danny spun around to see a pitch black outline of himself, staring at him with golden eyes. Danny staggered back, realizing he didn't have anything to defend himself with, but the creature just laughed. "What're you so afraid of? You big baby," The shadow mocked him. "You know, if you just give in and accept my power, you won't have to be afraid of anything ever again."

"Fat chance!" Danny shouted angrily. "I'm never going to give in! I don't need your power, and I don't want it!"

"I wouldn't say that," The shadow said, seeming to be more annoyed than angry. "But if that's how you're going to be, then fine. Just remember, that if you hesitate, you'll end up died." The shadow lifted up a hand to point at Danny. "They won't stop coming for you. Not as long as you stay marked as a user by that goody two shoes witch. So just make sure you don't get your stupid ass eaten. Because your heart belongs to me. You got that... Me!" It said as it faded away. "So wake up soon, or you'll miss the door opening. It would be a shame if you missed the end of your world."

* * *

Danny's eyes shot open to find him staring at the ceiling of Tucker's guest room. He could feel something. A deathly chill that pushed its way through his veins as his heart beat sped up to a thundering roar. His chest felt like it was being crushed. He didn't know what was going on, but he could knew that something was coming.

For a few moments he couldn't hear anything but the sounds of heavy rain and distant thunder, but after a few moments he heard screams, both within and outside of the house. Danny shoot up in bed, throwing aside the sheets Danny rushed out the door of the room. He couldn't even think, he was acting completely on instinct, something deep inside him telling him that he needed to go and help.

When he reached the top of the staircase he saw Mrs. Foley and Mr. Foley dressed in their night clothes, backing away from three dark creatures that had them nearly cornered in the hallway.

Even though they looked different, Danny could tell that these were some more of those heart eating monsters. The Heartless. Wasn't that what the man in his basement called them?

These Heartless were around three and a half feet tall with bluish skin. They were wearing what looked like helmets on either heads. Each one had huge, red nailed claws that they were flicking together, making a sound similar to knives being hit together. And they were all looking straight at the Foley parents with glinting yellow eyes.

"Get away from them!" Danny shouted as he ran down the stairs. He stood at the other side of the hallway, trying to lure the creatures away from Tucker's parents.

The Heartless seemed to take the bait, though that might not have been a good thing. As they turned toward him, Danny could see that they each had a mark on the center of their chests. A black heart, covered by a red 'x'.

"Oh fudge," Danny said once he realized he didn't really have much of a plan. The three creatures ran at Danny claws raised. Danny dodged out of the way as the first two lunged at him, but since he was already in mid dodge, he couldn't avoid the third one who's claw landed a slash across Danny's right side. Danny screamed from the pain and slammed into the wall.

Holding his side he looked up to see the three creature slowly moving in for the kill. 'Should I try to use the darkness?' Danny asked himself. But he was scared. What if he turned into one of those creatures? What if they didn't even work properly? What if he was still not strong enough anyways? The 'what if's paralyzed Danny as the Heartless prepared to strike.

"Leave my friend alone!" Tucker shouted, arriving on the scene, swinging his mother's broom at the monsters. But to his shock, the broom moved straight through the creatures.

One of the monsters turn towards Tucker who backed away from it, not sure what to do. Danny's eyes widened in horror as the Heartless crouched down, preparing to jump at his best friend. "Tucker!" Danny shouted, all inhibitions forgotten. He didn't care if he lost his heart and soul. He would not let his friend die.

As the Heartless jumped into the air to attack, Danny's body exploded in shadows. He shadow pushed past the two surprised Heartless that had been between him and the one that was about to jump on Tucker.

A white gloved hand wrapped itself around the Heartless's leg, pulling it back and away from Tucker. "I won't let you hurt him," Danny's voice echoed. It was calm, far calmer than Danny actually felt, but man did it make him seem like a badass as the shadow drifted off of him body to reveal his black jumpsuit and white hair. A symbol similar to the ones on the Heartless's chests was in the center of his jumpsuit. Only rather than a black heart with a red boarder covered by a red 'x', it had a white boarder and was covered by a blue 'x'. The injure to his side seemed to patch itself up in seconds, evaporating in the black smoke.

Danny pulled the Heartless back and his free hand burst into the black and green flames before he used it to punch the Heartless down into the floor hard enough to crack the wood. The other two stumbled back, confused as to what was going on. The Heartless Danny had smashed into the floor popped and a crystal heart started to flout away as Danny turned towards the other two. "Who's next?"

"Wow Danny, is that you?" Tucker said with slack jawed astonishment. "Damn, you somehow manage to pull off the white hair look."

"White hair?" Danny said in a confused manner before catching a glimpse of himself in the hallway mirror. "Oh come on! Who turned me into someone's grandpa!?" The Heartless took the moment to jump up at Danny, but the boy wasn't caught off guard, darkness swelled up around him and pushed forward like a wall that the shadow soldiers bounced off of.

Danny gave a smug smile before looking over at the broom in Tucker's hand. "Mind if I see that?" He said pointing to the broom.

"Danny, weren't you watching, it didn't work very well," Tucker said but he still handed it over to his friend. Danny seemed more confident than usual.

"Maybe," Danny said as he grabbed the broom, testing its weight before spinning it around and holding it in his right hand. His body seem to now what to do, his left foot shifting forward slightly and his back straightening up as he held the improvised weapon out to the side, the broom head pointing down just slightly. "But I think I can use it." The shadow's formed around Danny's right hand, passing upwards along the shaft of the broom, covering it in a dark green and black aura.

The Heartless had recovered from the earlier shot and were rushing forward again. But in one clear movement Danny smashed the head of the broom into the one in the front, knocking it to the side and through a small cabinet, dislodging a vase that fell smashing into the thing before it popped out of existence, leaving only a heart behind. Danny swung the broom back up, catching the second Heartless in the stomach and throwing it upward to hit against the roof before falling back to the ground.

As the creature struggled to get back up, the broom came down on its helmeted head, crushing it so that this Heartless too was erased, leaving only a crystal heart behind.

"Wow, talk about the 'broom of doom'! Danny that was so cool!" Tucker said, nerding out so that he wouldn't lose it from confused fear of what was going on. But Danny didn't respond. Tucker felt a little uneasy as Danny stared at the crystal heart, shivering a bit. He could have sworn he saw Danny's Adam's apple bob up and down as the boy swallowed hard. "Danny... you alright?" Tucker said, putting a hand on Danny's shoulder, causing the boy to jump.

"Wha..? Oh, sorry. I was... lost in thought for a second there," Danny said, trying to pull his eyes away from the heart as it slowly faded from sight. When he was looking at those hearts, he felt like he hadn't eaten in days. But he didn't have time to feel self horror at the moment, not when outside horror was going on. "You okay? What about your folks?" Danny asked his best friend.

"We're fine," Mr. Foley said, a little cautiously. "But Danny... what happened to you, what's going on? What were those things?"

"I wish I knew the answer to any of those questi..." Danny started but the ground underneath them shook. "What the heck?"

Tucker stumbled over to the window and peaked out. Then his jaw dropped. "Oh man... this ain't good," Tucker said weakly. "Danny, you should probably take a look at this."

Danny walked over to the window and glanced out. And if it wasn't from the strange calming effects the darkness was having on him, he would have probably pissed himself. Hundreds of dark creatures of various shapes and sizes were running rampant in the streets, smacking around cars and jumping on the power-lines and street lamps. Some of the people from the town had ran out into the streets, fleeing the monster only to be chased through the streets. Some were catch, pinned down, their hearts pulled out of their bodies and devoured by the dark creatures.

"It's... it's really the end of the world," Tucker said, his bravado was starting to break down and he swallowed hard. Closing his eyes, as if to try to pretend it wasn't real.

"Don't talk like that, Tuck. We need some kind of plan," Danny said looking to his friend. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Me!? Why do I have to come up with the plan!?" Tucker said, freaking out just a little.

"I'm the guy swinging around the broom, so you're the idea guy. It's just how the universe works," Danny said with a shrug. "So, think or something."

"Jeez, you're putting a lot of pressure on me," Tucker said as he started to rub his temples. "You said that you saw some kind of monster things in that basement portal thing, right? What if that guy from yesterday opened the thing back up and that's were all the monsters are coming from?" Tucker said opening his eyes and looking to his transformed friend. "Maybe if we turn it off then all these things will disappear."

"Well... its the best plan we have right now," Danny admitted. "Alright, lets do it."

"I don't really understand what is going on, but I trust your judgment son," Mr. Foley said putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Your mother and I will follow your lead."

"Wow, no pressure at all," Tucker said with a weak chuckle.

They opened the door and stepped out into the rain, but the moment they had turned to go towards Danny's place, Danny saw something out of the corner of his head. Turning his head he saw a large black and purple sphere in the sky that seemed to be sucking in building, cars, and even the earth itself. It was like a miniature black hole. "Oh no..." Danny said causing Tucker to look too. "Sam's house is over there."

Tucker looked at the thing for several seconds before looking at his tense friend. "You go save her. We'll met you at your place," Tucker said.

Danny turned to him in shock. "What!? But how are you going..." Danny started, but Tucker cut him off.

"Danny, we'll just sneak past everything. It wasn't like you could fight all this yourself anyways," Tucker said, gesturing to the massive army that seemed to surround them. "Your house in only three blocks away. We'll be there before anything bad happens, so just go."

Danny paused and nodded, he wanted to save Sam. He had to make sure she was safe. So before Tucker could change his mind, the boy turned and started to sprint at a surprising speed off in the direction of Sam's house.

"My best friend is a superhero... I'm a little jealous," Tucker said with a sigh.

"Um... son... we should probably be running now," Mr. Foley said, pointing at a small group of the Heartless that were nearby smashing a car into pieces of scrap.

"Oh... right," Tucker said. The Foley family turned towards Fenton Work and went off, running as fast as they could. Tucker could only hope that Danny would be able to handle himself.

* * *

Danny was moving towards Sam's house as fast as he could, running at a speed that would put most race horses to shame. He was trying to keep his mind focused on his objective. It was probably the only way he could keep his sanity out there as the world crumbled around him, only to be lifted up into the black hole over head.

He held his eyes almost completely shut against the wind and rain as he ran along, depending mostly on memory to gild him, since the power had been knocked out, ridding the streets of the lamp light. The screams had all but stopped in this area of the city, as if everyone had already been consumed, it made Danny even more afraid.

Danny did destroy a few Heartless that were in his way, but he wasn't running off to save every single person he heard screaming for help. He wasn't even thinking about it. He was just concentrating on getting to Sam, hoping beyond hope that she was still alright. If he had time to stop and think he probably would have been horrified with himself for not trying to save everyone, instead of just the people who were important to him.

Though the same could be said for his liberal use of the powers of darkness. He wasn't even thinking about it anymore. He didn't have time to wonder about the consequences, he was just running as fast as he could.

As Danny turned onto Sam's street, he came to a halt. Standing in the middle of the road in front of her house, which was quickly falling to pieces, was Sam. She was just standing there staring up at the purple sphere about her as dozens of the heartless circled around her.

"Sam!" Danny shouted as he started running towards the girl. The Heartless started to move into Danny's way, trying to bar his progress. "Sam, get away from them!" Danny shouted to his friend.

Sam slowly turned towards him, and Danny's heart sank. Her dark amethyst eyes were gone, replaced by pale golden orbs. "Danny, the door has opened!" She said with a very un-Sam like smile. "We can finally leave this world! Who knows were we will end up, but I don't care. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" She held an open hand out towards him, as if inviting him to join her. Shadows began to twist around her legs, working their way up her body.

"Sam!" Danny shouted in horror. She didn't know what she was doing, he couldn't let her give into the darkness. Danny rushed forward, swinging his broom at the four large shadow creatures that stood in his way.

Another Heartless that looked something like a flying red salt shaker flew around Danny as he tried to run towards his friend. The thing jingled a little before launching a fireball that hit Danny in the back, knocking him off his feet and to the ground.

"Sam!" Danny shouted, ignoring the burning pain in his back as he pushed himself up. Another fireball hit him in the back. Danny gasped before spinning around and throwing a ball of his dark green shadows straight into the Heartless, blasting it to piece.

More heartless tried to jump on Danny from the direction he came, but he just jumped to the side, before continuing towards his friend. But his path was blocked again, by a massive Heartless that looked to be around eight feet tall and fat as a Sumo Wrestler, it had a helmet on its head and the hands on the ends of its short arms had been replaced by shields.

Danny bared his teeth at it as he swung the broom as hard as he could. "Get out of my way!" He shouted, the broom shattered at it hit the side of the Heartless's helmet, and the Heartless was sent flying to the side. Danny staggered a bit at the loss of his weapon but quickly regained his footing before continuing to run towards Sam. Two more of the soldier like Heartless that Danny saw back at Tucker's house got in his way, but Danny just punched them aside and kept going. "Sam!" Danny shouted, reaching out for the girl once he was within six feet of her. The shadows had made it up to her shoulders and were stretching out along her arm, but she hadn't moved an inch, or struggled at all against it.

Unfortunately, right before Danny reached her, something hit him hard in the side and he was sent sailing through the air and into a parked car with enough force to collapse the roof in on itself. Danny gasped and wheezed as he looked up to see what looked like a living gargoyle flying above him. The beast was pitch black without any marks and even its yellow eyes were small, making it hard to make out in the extremely dim world expect for the top of what seemed to be horns on its head and spikes on the back of its heels which both had a purple hue to them. It was around six feet tall and had a large claymore type sword that was as big as Danny was tall.

Danny assumed that it was the sword that had hit him, and was thanking the lucky stars that were circling his head that the sword wasn't very sharp, even if he was in considerable pain.

Looking past this new Heartless, Danny said the shadows had consumed Sam completely and were shifting into the ground. "NO!" Danny shrieked, ignoring the pain he was in.

He had failed. Sam was gone. A sob started to form in Danny throat and he broke down. He had failed to protect his friend, and now she was lost in the darkness, perhaps even died.

But his tears didn't last long as a voice broke him out of his misery. "What do we have here? I crying Heartless? Most be a sign of the end of the world or something," Someone said in a sarcastic voice. Danny looked up to see a man standing a short distance away. The man looked odd to Danny, standing there among the Heartless. He had bright orange hair that covered one of his dark green eyes and a black bowler hat sat atop his head as he stare at Danny with a smug grin.

The man stood out in the darkness because of his white coat. In one had he held a walker's cane, as if to pretend like he was a gentleman, and in the other... "Jazz," Danny said in shock as he saw his sister unconscious and tucked underneath the man's arm. "What did you do to my sister!"

"Sister?" The man said before starting to laugh. "Oh you've got to be kidding me. A Princess of Heart has a Heartless for a little brother? Oh the irony," He said, mocking Danny. All of his misery turned to hatred and rage as the man continued to laugh. "Sorry kid, but this girl and her heart belong to us now. So why don't you just run along. Won't be long now until you turn into a Heartless completely. Either that or this world ends, which ever comes first," The man said with a shrug.

"Let her go!" Danny voice boomed and echoed all around them as the shadows came out of him at even greater speeds. Danny pushed himself out of the broken car, moving full speed towards the man, but the demon like Heartless got in the way again, hitting Danny in the left shoulder with the massive sword, shouting him into a nearby building, blasting in through the wall so that stones started to fall down on top of him, the dust kicked up by the hit blocked even the Heartless's view.

"Feel free to try again snowflakes," The ginger laughed. "This right here is called an Invisible. It's not like those flimsy shadows you were tossing around. It is a higher quality Heartless. And a little newborn like you doesn't stand a chance against it."

But the laughter came to a stop when a mass of pure black energy flew out of the dust cloud, smashing into the Invisible. The Heartless gave a growl of shocked anger as it grabbed the shadow with its free hand, pulling it away with a ripping sound and throwing it to the ground beneath him.

The shadow bounced twice before it came to a stop. As the darkness unwound from the thing, it revealed Danny on all fours like some kind of animal, his white hair had turned into white fire, the green eyes had turned a deadly yellow and glowing blue tattoo like marks covered his face and body. A stream of blue blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, the same blue blood that was coming from the wound that was on the Invisible shoulder, where Danny had bit it. Danny growled as he stared up at the larger Heartless.

"Oh, looks like you want to try to stand up to your betters," The man said smugly. "Well then, show the brat his place in the grand scheme of things."

Danny gave an angry roar, jumping high into the air over the Invisible. The darkness wrapped itself around his fingers before he started throwing the baseball sized shadow attacks down at the Heartless. But the small shadow orbs were batted aside by the Heartless's sword before the Invisible returned fire with a much bigger blast of dark energy, that was a dark mass with a cold blue glow.

Danny was hit straight in the stomach and launched up into the air, but the Invisible Heartless somehow teleported above him, swinging the giant sword like a baseball bat and knocked Danny back down to the road fast enough to crack the pavement.

Within seconds, Danny was already struggling to get back up, ignoring his injures as blood dripped from an open wound on his head. But before Danny could pull himself from the ground the larger Heartless flew down and stomped on his stomach, causing him to spit up blood and he was pushed further down into the road.

"My my, looks like you weren't anything special after all. How sad," The man said with a fake sigh of disappointment. "Oh well, finish the job," He ordered the Heartless, which lifted its sword preparing to bring it down on Danny's head.

Then just as everything seemed over the unconscious Jazz whispered one word. "Danny." He body started to give off light blinding the man who was holding her.

"What the devil?" He said shielding his eyes with his free hand. A ball of the light flew down to Danny who's body also started to give off a much lighter glow as his beast like struggling stopped.

* * *

Danny was sitting on the glass panel again, his knee pulled in as the darkness moved in around him.

He felt like he was forgetting something. Something important, but he was to far out of it to remember what it was. Everything was numb; his mind, his body... his heart. Danny couldn't feel anything. But... was that a bad thing? He honestly couldn't remember.

The shadows which had been approaching him from the edges of the platform were starting to reach his feet, twisting around him. But he couldn't feel any of it. So why should he even care?

"Danny," A gentle, familiar voice whispered his name. Light appeared in the space in front of Danny, pushing back the darkness, though it didn't retreat far. Danny looked up at the small but warm sphere of light that flouted in the air above him. "Please don't lose yourself, Danny. I don't want to lose you." Danny recognized the voice as his sister's. "Please come back."

"I... I don't know how," Danny said weakly, his mind still fuzzy. Had he even gone anywhere? Did he even want to return.

"Just follow the light, and you will find your way home," Jazz's voice said. A small smile crossed Danny's lips. He remembered Jazz saying those same words once before, though they had been referring the giant sign reading 'Fenton Works' that was sticking out of their families home with an arrow pointing to the front door.

Yes, Danny did want to get back. He wanted to get back to his sister, and Tucker, and Sam, and his parents. He wanted to get back to the happier times.

Light started to pulsate from a point somewhere behind Danny, driving the shadows even further back. Danny turned his head to see the small white tree from before. One of the flowers had opened up and on the branch right behind the beautiful white pedals was a short silver chain with a symbol on the end of it, like a black heart with a blue 'x' over it.

"Come back Danny, I know you can do it," Jazz's voice urged him. Danny got up walking over to the tree as angrily whispers echoed throughout the surrounding darkness. Danny reached out his right hand, and after a moment's hesitation, grabbed hold of the chain.

* * *

The Invisible let out a growl of frustration as it shielded its small yellow eyes from the bright light that was shining all over Danny's skin as the boy was pinned to the ground underneath the demon like Heartless's foot. Angered by the light which burned its eyes, the Heartless brought down its sword to smash the boy into a crumpled heap.

But rather than the sound of crunching bones as the slab of steel fell down on the young boy's body, the sound of metal scrapping against metal rang through the air as the sword was brought to a halt.

"What's the mater?" Danny's voice echoed through the air, though the insane tone was gone from it. It wasn't a voice of rage, but one of confidence and sarcasm. "Can't you handle a little light?"

The Heartless gaped dumbly as the light dimmed. Danny was still lying on his back on the ground underneath the demon's foot, but his hair had returned to a at least somewhat human state, still white but at least it wasn't on fire anymore. The blue tattoos were gone and his berserker yellow eyes and returned to the cocky venomous green.

But that wasn't what shocked the Invisible. The Heartless's massive sword was being held back by what looked like a giant key. The key was around three and a half feet long, the handle having enough space for a hand and a half to fit in it comfortably. One side of the body looked razor sharp and had a silvery tint to it, and the tooth of the key was in the shape of a five pointed crown with a large sky blue 'x' covering it. Attached to the handle was a chain with the same alternate Heartless Emblem that the child bore in its chest dangling from it.

"A Heartless... with a keyblade?" The man in the bowler hat said, his one visible eye widening in total shock. "That... that isn't possible."

Danny's body turned into a shadow, passing into the ground beneath him before shifting about and rising up to stand across from the Invisible. He stood with the keyblade held out to his side, ready for the fight to resume. Blood dripped from a cut on the side of his head, his back was still burned, and a few of his ribs were probably broken, but all that pain hardly registered in Danny's mind. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it.

The Invisible's eyes were locked on the keyblade, unable to pull its attention away from it. Danny could sense the other Heartless all around them also staring in it, with a mixture of fear and hunger.

The entire world seemed to go silent for a few moments as the Invisible's eyes slowly moved up Danny's arm and to his face. Then the spell was broken as the Invisible let out a cry of absolute rage and flew into the air above Danny, swinging down its sword with enough focus to cause a howling wind as the bar of steel pushed aside the still air on its way to crush this white haired key wielder.

But Danny dodged to the side before counting with his own lung, which the Heartless blocked with the side of its sword. The clash only lasted for a second before the Heartless pushed Danny back, but the boy didn't go too far. However, when the Heartless pushed him back he was forced to swing his sword outwards, thus leaving him open for Danny's second lung.

Danny jumped forward with a quick and wide swing, aiming for the demon's side. But the Invisible block the strike by putting his free arm in the way. The Heartless let out an angry cry as the keyblade sank a good inch into its arm, drawing the creatures blue blood to the surface.

But Danny was now close to the Heartless, and this time it was him who was going to have trouble moving out of the way, since his keyblade was lodged into the creature's arm. So the Invisible swung its sword in a wide arc, trying to catch Danny's side.

Danny saw the blade coming towards him in slow motion. He tried to pull his blade back, but it was stuck in pretty hard. So in a snap decision, Danny let go of his keyblade, jumping back and out of range of the Heartless's powerful swing, only barely dodging it as the wind from the strike pushed back his hair.

Danny watched as the Heartless pulled the keyblade out of his arm and grinned at Danny, as if it thought that now that his weapon was gone, the boy would be easy. But the keyblade flashed brightly and disappeared from the Heartless's hands, only to reappear in Danny's right hand again. Danny blinked in surprise but then cocked a smile back at the even more enraged Heartless.

Shadows gathered around the Invisible's injured arm before it swung the arm in a wide arc, causing a half a dozen small bolts of shadow fire to scatter from its open hand. Danny jumped back, but rather than just hitting the ground where he had been standing the orbs curved up in order to follow him. As they came close, Danny jumped to the side, but one of the balls skinned the side of his leg, burning it as it went by.

It stung, but didn't hurt as much as Danny's other injuries. It only reinforced what he already knew; he couldn't let himself get hit. As the orbs turned around to come back at Danny, his own left hand became engulfed in his green shadows. Danny lifted his left arm and a shield of dark glass appeared in front of him, which the Heartless's shadow ball hit and shattered on contact.

But the Heartless wasn't done, it moved behind Danny. Before Danny had thought it had been teleporting, but he could see it now, it was just bursts of speed, and that in the darkness it was hard to keep track of the monster's movements. But Danny didn't need his eyes to see it. The keyblade told him where the Heartless was, and his own heart could feel the things darkness. So Danny was not taken by surprise as the Heartless tried again to bring down its sword on his head.

Danny sank beneath the surface of the road, leaving the Heartless to just smash his blade into the pavement. While the sword was still stuck, Danny jumped out of the road behind the Heartless, aiming his own slash for the Heartless's thick neck. But the Invisible turned around grabbing onto Danny with its free hand, trying to chock the life out of him.

The pressure around Danny's neck was intense, causing the boy to start to tear up, but he couldn't let himself be beaten. He concentrated all his strength into his sword arm, and brought it up, cutting the Heartless's arm clean off.

The Invisible gave a cry of pain as it staggered back, but Danny had his opening. Lunging forward, Danny drove the head of the keyblade into the Heartless's chest. The Heartless stopped, its mouth hanging open as it seemed to slowly understand what had happened. Then its body fell apart, turning into a black mist.

Danny swept his blade out to the side again as he turned to the man in the bowler hat, the mocking smile was gone from the ginger's face as he glared at Danny. "I'll say it again. Let go of my sister," Danny said confidently, pointing his keyblade at the man.

"You know, I miss the good old days, when children respected their betters," the man said with a sigh. Danny rushed towards the man, but rather than dodging or even moving at all, the man lifted his cane. " _Firaga!_ " A massive dark red fireball shot out of the end of the man's cane and few straight at Danny.

Danny was shocked, he hadn't expected anything like this out of the man. He had assumed his was a normal human, beyond the ability to command the Heartless.

Danny had been moved forward to fast to change directions and he didn't have time to make another barrier. Danny lifted his arms to protect himself as best he could and braced himself for the on coming attack. It hit him hard and Danny screamed as his arms were burned in the flames.

The fireball exploded, launching Danny back and into a lamppost with enough force to knock the thing over. Danny gasped through the new waves of pain, looking up to see the man staring down at him. "Well kid, I can't say this hasn't been a learning experience for me, but I really do need to be going." He said, tipping his hat in Danny's direction. A pool of darkness appeared behind the man, moving up out of the ground until if formed a gateway. Danny tried to move, but his arms had been burned to the point were they wouldn't obey the orders his brain was giving them. "Maybe if you survive the end of this world, we'll see each other again. I almost hope you do." He said. Danny could do nothing but watch as the darkness moved around the bowler hat man and his sister. "So long, Snowflake."

The moment the portal closed, the giant black and purple sphere in the sky started to expand, until everything was pulled into it, Danny included.

* * *

Far off, in another world, Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, stared up into the sky and watched as yet another star blinked out of existence. Another world had been lost to the darkness.

Ozpin was old, far older than even his silver haired appearance would lead people to believe. He was the vetern of hundreds of battles, and of more than one war. And the weight of his experiences were heavy upon his modest shoulders.

Ozpin was a tall man, standing at a impressive hight of six foot six inches. But his opposing stature was played down by his rather normal black slacks and his dark green turtle neck sweeter. His deep blue eyes were masked behind his tinted spectacles, hiding what he was feeling as he watched the ever raging battle as the light struggled to survive against the overwhelming darkness as the shadows sought to return all worlds to the emptiness from which they were all born.

"Another world has been lost." Ozpin said sadly. "That is the fifth one this month. I believe this one was called Amity. One of the worlds closest to the heart of the universe." Ozpin gave a short sigh, his fingers drumming on the pure white crystal on the top of the cane that concealed his own blade. "I suppose no one is truly safe from the darkness." And that was true, even Radiant Garden, one of the greatest cities of light had fallen into darkness just a few years past.

A small beeping should could be heard from over at Ozpin's desk. The headmaster walked over to his seat, a pressed the button. An 3D hologram of a large mouse dressed in a red vest and black short pants looked back at him with a concerned expression.

"Hey there Ozpin, good to see you." The mouse said with a forced smile.

"It is good to hear your voice as well, Your Majesty." Ozpin said to the King of Disney World, King Mickey. A small smile crossed Ozpin's face as he watched the image of his old friend scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "For what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well... I've decided I can't just sit back anymore." Mickey said seriously. Ozpin's smile vanished. "I'm going to go and do what I can to help stop the spread of the darkness."

"Your Majesty, I would advice against that." Ozpin said, shaking his head. "The worlds look to you for guidance. We cannot afford to lose you on the battlefield."

"Oh come on Oz, we both know that Mini can run the kingdom in my stead." Mickey said, using Ozpin's nickname. "But there is something that only I can do." Mickey held up his hand and there was a glint of light before a large golden key with a silver handle appeared. "If I go from world to world locking the key holes, then maybe I can stop them from falling to darkness. I might be able to find out what is causing all this in the process."

Ozpin stared at the little king's keyblade. "Your Majesty, there are hundreds of worlds, and you are just one mouse."

"Shucks, I know that." Mickey said a little sadly as he looked down at the single keyblade in his hand. "But there are no other masters out there, except for Master Yen Sid, but he isn't able to fight in this battle. He cannot abandon his tower." Ozpin nodded knowingly. Just six year ago, Master Xehanort betrayed the other keyblade masters and they were all lost to the darkness. "Terra, Aqua, Ven, I will not disgrace their memories by just sitting on my tail while the darkness continues to move around in the heart of the universe unchecked. If I can save even one world, then it would be worth it, you know?"

"But maybe... maybe I'll be able to find more people who can wield the keyblades, some that we've overlooked." Mickey said, sounding sure that he would. As if he knew that the previous masters had marked their future students before they were lost.

Ozpin looked at the image of the determined mouse and knew he wouldn't be able to change his mind. "Please Your Majesty, just be careful."

"Aren't I always?" Mickey said with a grin.

Ozpin smiled and shook his head. "No, you are never careful." King Mickey laughed cheerfully and ended the transmission. Ozpin turned back away from the desk and looked out his clock-tower/office window.

He understood why the king was choosing to do what he did. If Ozpin was in the position to, he would do the same in a heartbeat. But Ozpin had other responsibilities.

The world of Remnant, the world that Ozpin currently stood on was about as far away from the bright center of the universe as one could get. It was on the boarder of the darkness and was constantly being pressed by the Heartless that sought to gain ground in the fight between darkness and light.

This was Ozpin's task, the eternal struggle to hold back the tide of darkness, so that the light could continue to shine, and to train other who would one day do the same. The Huntmen and Huntresses who would fight against the darkness for generations to come. His school Beacon Academy was one of four such schools, one located at each of the four corners of the universe. Beacon was at the far north, and being the one that protected that sector, Ozpin was often called, the Northern Light.

Ozpin turned away from the window. He had to go and get some sleep. After all, the next generation of students to his school would be arriving that morning. And things would more than likely get hectic, just like they did every year.


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Yang Xiao Long shouted for what must have been the hundredth time, pulling her little sister into a massive bear hug.

"Please stop..." Ruby Rose struggled to gasp out as her older sister squeezed the breath out of her.

Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were half sisters and they were both on their way to Beacon Academy to be trained to become Huntresses, warriors who seek out the darkness and destroy it in order to protect all of the worlds from falling into ruin.

"But I'm so proud of you!" Yang squealed as she let go of her little sister. Yang was a little about average height, standing at five feet eight inches, with wild golden yellow hair that reached down to just below her waist and light, glassy purple eyes.

Like most of the students on the blimp, she had spent the last three years training at Signal Academy in order to gain entry into Beacon. And though there were some students that had managed to pass the entrance exams without going through a specialized combat school, they were all seventeen and older, just like Yang.

Well, with the exception of Ruby Rose.

"Really sis, it was nothing," Ruby said a bit embarrassed by her older sister's spunky actions. Ruby didn't want to draw any more attention to herself. It already felt like everyone was watching her since she was only fifteen, making her seem rather childish next to all the other students. Though if there were one word that describe Ruby Rose it would be childish. Not that it was a bad thing.

Ruby had been moved forward two years after impressing Beacon's headmaster by helping bring a mob boss by the name of Roman Torchwick, to justice when the crime lord tried to rob a local 'Dust' store.

An accomplishment that Ruby might have been prouder of, if it wasn't for two small details. First, she had only taken out all the henchmen. It was a senor Huntress, Glynda Goodwitch, one of the instructors at Beacon Academy, who had actual brought down the mobster himself. And the other reason she felt iffy about it was because Torchwick disappeared from his holding cell the following day, without leaving a single trace as to how it happened.

"What are you talking about!? It was amazing! Everyone is going to think you're the bee's knees!" Yang said with her usual wide smile as she praised her little sister.

Ruby Rose was not short for her age, but she was still rather small compared to everyone else on the blimp. She had short black hair that faded into natural red highlights towards the end of her hair, which framed her innocent looking face and large silver eyes. Her childish look was completed by the red hooded cape that she wore, as if she was playing superhero.

"I don't want to be the bee's knees. I don't want to be any kind of knees," Ruby said, clearly just panicking at this point. She didn't even know what her sister meant by 'bee's knees', though Yang probably didn't know herself either, "I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees."

"Hey, what's the matter? Aren't you excited?" Yang asked.

"Of course I'm excited!" Ruby said quickly before looking at her feet. "Its just... I was moved forward two years. I don't want everyone to think that I'm special." Ruby mumbled weakly.

Yang sighed at the sight of the adorable expression on her little sister's face. She put on arm around her little sister, pulling her in and resting her head on Ruby's own black locks. "But you are special. You deserve to be here," Yang said into her little sister's ear, calming the girl down. Looking up Yang smiled again. "Look," She said, pointing out the window.

Ruby looked up and her anxiety disappeared as her eyes widened. "Wow," She whispered as she walked up to the window of the air ship and pressed herself against the glass. Beacon Academy was stretched out beneath them, a building so large and grand that it seemed more like a castle out of a fairy tale than any school, with its large white towers, fountain statues, and beautiful flower gardens. Ruby couldn't help but stare.

Yang walked up behind her, placing her hand on her little sister's shoulder. "Looks like we made it. Welcome to Beacon," She said cheerfully as they basked in the moment. "Come on, we'll be landing soon," She said, laughing as she had too pull her sister away from the window to get their things ready to disembark. Beacon awaits.

* * *

"Wow..." The two sisters said together as they disembarked the transport ship and stood staring up at the massive towers and statues that surrounded the school. 'Big' didn't do the place justice. Beacon was as large as some cities. A world in and of itself that could be seen from miles around.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this, huh Ruby?.. Ruby?" Yang said as she looked up at the impressive structures. But her little sister was looking at other things.

"Sis! Sis! That girl's got a fire sword!" Ruby said as she scanned the crowd who were coming off the ship with them, her gaze jumping from weapon to weapon as each of the young warriors arrived. Some throw her questioning glances as they heard her gushing.

Yang flushed a little with embarrassment as Ruby started moving towards a boy in order to get a closer look at his collapsible staff. Yang grabbed onto the back of her sister's hood and dragged her back before she could do anything too embarrassing during her weapon induced trance. "Easy there little sister. They're just weapons."

"Just weapons!?" Ruby gasped as if she could believe that a sister of hers would say such a horrible thing. "They're an extensions of ourselves, they're a part of us!.. Oh they're so cool!"

"We'll, why can't you gush over your own weapon?" Yang said, knowing that this at least would stop her from pouncing on someone to get a closer look at their sword... as dirty as that sounds.

In a second, Ruby had unfolded her weapon, the massive sniper riffle crossed with a deadly scythe that she called Crescent Rose. "Of course I love my Crescent Rose," Ruby said defensively. "I just... really like to meet new ones. It's like meeting new people... only better."

Yang gave a sigh of relief as her baby sister calmed down, but a new problem stuck out its head. One that Yang had forgotten about until now.

Ruby had terrible social anxiety problems. It had taken her several months to make her first few friends and Signal, and that was with everyone being the same age as her. With her being in a new school, not knowing anyone, and being two years younger than them; it was going to be hard for the gunslinger girl to adjust.

"Well, why don't you try to meet some people instead. You know, make some new friends?" Yang prodded, giving a hopeful smile.

"Why would I need friend when I have you?" Ruby said, glancing up at her older sister. Her eyes clearly saying 'please don't leave me'.

Yang bit her lip. Resisting one of Ruby's pouts was not the easiest of thing to do, but for the sake of the girl's future, she would have to try. Glancing around to avoid looking directly at Ruby's silver eyes, Yang spotted a few of her old friends for Signal who had also made it into Beacon. "Actually, myfriendsarealreadyhere,Ishouldprobablygocatchupwiththem,bye!" Yang said quickly before dashing off and leaving Ruby to surprised to follow.

"Wait!.." Ruby said miserably as her sister left her alone. She stared for a few seconds as Yang talked to her friends before her head sank and she started to walk away.

Yang watched Ruby from the corner of her eye as she moved off. She felt guilty about leaving her, but Ruby would have to grow up. Beacon was a place for adults, and her holding onto her older sister's leg wouldn't help her make her way in the worlds. "Sorry Ruby," Yang said weakly, praying that her sister would make at least one new friend before turning back to her group and forcing back on her signature smile.

* * *

Ruby walked along the yellow brick path. It had been a few minutes since she had separated from her sister, and she was already running into problems. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. Are we supposed to drop our stuff off at our dorms? Do we even have dorms? I'm so confused," She mumbled weakly.

Ruby sighed heavily, closing her eyes against the light that was bounding off of the shiny statues and brick path. She couldn't help but to be a little angry with her sister for leaving her. She was scared and lonely. Why had she come to Beacon in the first place? She should have just stayed at Signal.

But with her eyes closed, Ruby's balance was off set, so when her foot landed on a loose brick, she staggered.

Her arms flailed out as she started to fall, trying to gain her footing, but it was too late. She stumbled forward and fell face first into a cart full of someone's luggage. "Ouch," Ruby mumbled as she pulled herself up onto her knees.

"What do you think your doing!?" Someone shouted angrily at the small silver eyed girl.

Looking up, Ruby saw a girl with long white hair pulled up into a ponytail that was tied up with some kind of silver ornament. The girl had bright blue eye that failed to draw Ruby's attention away from a small scar that was at the corner of her right eye. The girl's angry glare made Ruby want to dig a hole in the ground and hide until the scary girl just went away.

"Sorry..." Ruby couched the words out. Her social anxiety starting to make her freeze up. She pulled up one of the suit cases that had been on the cart, half hoping to use it as some kind of shield between her and the angry girl's glare.

"Give me that! We could have been blown off the cliff because of your clumsiness!" The girl shouted, pulling the case out of Ruby's hand and opening it to reveal several veils of different colored sand. Ruby instantly knew what the stuff was. It was dust, a sort of crystallized form of magic for fast use.

The girl pulled out one of the veils and started shaking it at Ruby, seemingly unaware of the flakes of dust that were spilling from it with each shake. "This is dust! Mined and refined by the Shnee Dust Company!" When Ruby didn't respond, the girl just got angrier. "Are you even listening to me!? Dust! You know, magic, fire, ice, energy! Is any of this sinking in!" She shouted, shaking the veil in Ruby's face again and again with each word.

The dust was starting to fill Ruby's nostrils as she tried to breath, tickling the inside of her noise. Ruby could feel a sneeze coming on. She tried to hold it back, but it was no good.

"Hachoo!"

The leaked dust reacted to Ruby's sneeze and began to give off sparks. A chain reaction quickly followed that caused several of the veils to detonate, releasing the contained magical energy in a explosion of fire, ice and lightning. By the time it all settled down, both Ruby and the shouting girl were covered in a layer of soot. One of the bottles flying off to land at the feet of another girl who was standing nearby reading a book.

"This is exactly what I was talking about!" The girl in white shouted as she stomped her foot, trying to shake the soot off of her.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." Ruby stammered, horrified as thing just seemed to be going from bad to worse for her.

"You complete dolt! What do you have to..!" The shouting continued and Ruby felt like she was about to start crying.

'What would Yang say if she was here?' Ruby asked herself. Though Yang was probably not the best person to imitate in a social situation, since she has a tendency to try to punch her problems in the face, but she was the only person Ruby could think of at the moment. "I said I was sorry, Princess," Ruby said, trying her hardest to raise her voice and taking a step forward.

Whenever Yang did it, it was intimidating. When Ruby did it, it just seemed adorable. Though based on the expression on the white girl's face, she was neither intimidated, nor amused.

But before she could continue to shriek at the smaller girl she was interrupted by another voice. "It's Heiress, actually." Ruby and the white haired girl both turned their heads to see another girl, dressed in a black gothic dress with a large black bow on her long black hair. She had bright amber eyes that seemed to be judging the other two girls, sizing them up, though most of her attention was on the white girl. "Weiss Shnee, Heiress to the Shnee Dust Company. One of the largest producer of energy propellant in the worlds." The black girl said, holding up one of the bottles of dust.

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said as the now identified girl in white stuck out her chest with pride. Ruby gave a small sigh of relief as the girl's attention was pulled away from her.

But the next second the black bowed girl gave a smug smile as she add. "The same company that is infamous for its controversial labor forces, and shady business partners," She said.

Weiss's eyes widened at the insult. "Wh... how dare..?!" She stammered angrily, though she couldn't come up with a counter. Ruby giggled, seeing the mean girl getting some pay back.

Weiss stomped up to the newest girl before grabbing the dust back from her hand and stomping away angrily, leaving some butler like people to pick up her luggage.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby shouted after Wiess, hoping that it wasn't too late to savage the situation, even if the first impression was a disaster. But the girl didn't even look back. Ruby gave a heavy sigh. "Guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." She mumbled, then she remembered the black haired girl. She still had a chance to make a good first impression there. "So..!" She said smiling as she turned to the raven haired girl only to find that she was already walking away.

"Messed up again," Ruby whimpered as she slid down onto her knees and just let herself fall back onto her back to look up at the sky. "Welcome to Beacon," She practically scoffed. Her eyes were starting to feel more moist as the first set of tears started to come.

Ruby was stressed, tired, and scared. She was so far out of her element that she wanted to just burst into tears, bury her head in her sister's chest, and cry about how she wants her daddy. "I should have just stayed at Signal." Ruby grumbled. She couldn't even remember why she had ever wanted to be at Beacon in the first place.

A few minutes went by before Ruby sat up. Lying there all day wouldn't change anything. She should just go to the assembly and ask her sister for help. Yang would help her feel better. She always had been able to.

But after she got up, Ruby realized that she had no clue where the assembly hall even was, and that everyone had already gone. "Oh great. Now I'm lost too," Ruby cried to herself.

She started walking along the path, trying to find anyone who could point her in the right direction when she saw someone leaning up against a tree a little ways off the path. She couldn't see them very well from her current angle, but it looked a bit like a small black haired boy. Even smaller than her.

Ruby hesitated for a second. After the last two giant mess ups, she was more than a little nerves about try to talk to someone again, but she had to find the assembly hall. "Excuse me... Excuse me..!" Ruby shouted as she started to make her way towards the boy, but she didn't get any reaction. "Um... could you possibly... maybe... help me find the..." Ruby stammered awkwardly until she got close enough to get a good look at the boy.

She froze on the spot, her eyes widening.

The boy looked like he was on the edge of death, his body covered in blood and burns, his clothes were torn to pieces and his arms and legs were blistering from heavy burns. Ruby couldn't even tell if he was still bleeding or if he had already passed on.

A second went by before Ruby's brain produced anything, but when it finally did she rushed over to the boy and started to work on his injuries, doing her best to remember the healing magic they taught at Signal.

All thoughts of social interaction were gone. This was an emergency. What she had been training her whole life to do.

She would not let an innocent die.

* * *

Ruby was in the waiting room of Beacon's nurse's office, though it was more of an emergency room. She sat quietly, trying to decide what she was doing. She felt like she had been glued to the short bench, unable to leave even if she wanted to.

She half wanted to now if that boy was going to be alright, and what had happened to him. But her other half wanted to run for the hills before he woke up and she would have to make another attempt at small talk. What did you say to a younger boy you found bleeding to death in the middle of a school on your first day of school? She ran through the lists of topics her sister told her to try, but none seemed appropriate.

Maybe he wouldn't even wake up? Healing had never been Ruby's strong suit. She was actually pretty bad at magic in general, depending on dust bullets to make up for her deficiency in that area. Most of the higher level magic classes were withheld for the senor students at Signal, so she had never take them. She preferred to use her weapon. The feel of the recoil of her gun shots and the resistance as she cut through the Heartless was much more empowering for her than the odd sensations that came from using magic.

She had done her best to heal the boy's wounds before moving him, but he had already lost a lot of blood, and it had taken her a while to find the nurse's office. She wasn't even sure how long he had been leaning against the tree. All the little factors that she didn't know were building up, making her feel more and more uneasy about everything.

Finally the nurse came out of the office and closed the door behind her. Ruby looked down at the nurse, who was only a two feet tall. The dwarf woman had a hard face and a few wrinkles of care. Her hair was wiry and gray and her eyes were a cold black color. But when she spoke her voice was one of the most gentle and motherly things that Ruby had ever heard. It did a whole lot to relieve the girl's social anxiety.

"It's a good thing you got that poor boy here when you did, sweetie. His aura was extremely weak. I can't imagine he would have lasted another minute in his condition if you hadn't found him," Madam Shroom said as she waddled past Ruby to drop her clip board on her table before pulling herself up into her chushy chair. The dwarf woman started to rub her legs with a tired look on her face, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to see any injured children until tomorrow at the earliest. And such a young one too, the poor dear."

"Is he going to be alright?" Ruby asked, proud of herself for talking so directly with someone she had only just met. She liked the small woman already, and her friendly tones were making Ruby feel much more comfortable.

"Oh he'll be find, dear. I've had to deal with a lot worse in my days here at Beacon. Don't worry, you did a good job," Madam Shroom said with an attempt at a gentle smile which looked rather strange with the woman's stiff face, but made Ruby feel happier anyways. "His aura levels should start returning soon, and then he'll regain consciousness. Hopefully he will wake up soon."

"What happened to him?" Ruby asked a little nervously. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask such a question, but she felt like she had to know.

Madam Shroom looked sad, her tense features curling in on themselves and she squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't know the details, but after seeing his injures... the burns were from fire magic, the ones on his arms were more advance then the burn on his back. He had multiple blade wounds and some bruising and cuts that I believe came from being thrown against walls and sharp rocks," Madam Shroom mumbled as she listed off some of the boy's injures. Ruby could remember seeing some of them as she had done her best to heal the boy, but she had been so anxious about it at the time that all the memories just blurred together. "I have managed to heal all of those injures, but..." Madam Shroom swallowed, "He has a network of scars around his chest that I cannot heal... claw marks."

"Heartless..." Ruby gasped. "How did they get inside of the barrier?" Ruby knew that there was a well maintained shield around all of Vale. No heartless should be able to get through.

Madam Shroom shook her head. "I don't know. Hopefully he will be able to answer our questions once he wakes up," the dwarf woman said as she turned around in her chair and reached for a phone. "It is a small miracle that the boy still has his heart, but I will need to contact the Headmaster. He will want to speak to the poor thing." The woman glanced over at Ruby who was squirming a bit, her eyes on the door to the nurse's office. "You can see him if you wish, though try not to wake him if you can help it."

Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't been aware that she was being that transparent. "Um... thank you," Ruby said before tiptoeing to the door and slowly squeezing herself inside.

Ruby looked around the rather normal looking nurse's office and saw the beds over in the corner with the last one in the row having its privacy curtain drawn around it. She slowly inched her way towards it, trying to get over her nervousness as she prepared to see just how bad everything was. She tried to check her memory for what was the proper bedside edict, but was coming up blank.

Maybe she should just turn back. He wasn't even awake anyways. But she knew that if she didn't at least check to make sure he was alright, that it would haunt her for the rest of the day at least. So she slowly pulled back the curtain and peeked inside.

The boy was lying on the bed with his arms at his side an a peaceful expression on his face. Without all the blood drawing away her eyes, Ruby could see that he had a very young face, probably even younger than her own. His black hair had long bangs that nearly covered his eyes and though his body frame was thin and not at all muscled, he seemed to have fairly wide shoulders.

In order to properly get a look at him, Madam Shroom had cut off his shirt and pants, though his lower body was now covered by a blanket. The burns and cuts were mostly gone, but Ruby could see the claw marks that littered his chest.

Ruby couldn't help but to stare numbly at his sleeping form. This was supposed to be the reason that she had come to Beacon in the first place. To make sure that nothing like this ever happened.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as the boy started to shift around in his bed. "Where..." He mumbled as his eyes slowly opened and moved only half focused around the room around him before finding Ruby.

Ruby swallowed hard as she looked into his confused sky blue eyes, but she quickly pushed down the butterflies in her stomach. She tried to remember what it was she was supposed to do whenever you first meet someone. 'Introduce yourself silly.' She could almost here her sister saying in her cheerful voice.

"Um... Hello there." Ruby said, trying to build up some courage. "I'm Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you. You want to hang out?" Ruby recited what her sister had told her to say from memory, then mentally kicked herself for saying all of it. 'Hanging out' was probably not on the table right now.-

"Wha..?" The boy muttered as his eyes tried to focus. "I'm... Danny," He said, seeming to realized that the girl had introduced herself.

As Danny's sight finally started to clear he found himself staring into Ruby's eyes and he was struck dumb by the pure silver orbs. Her pale face was framed perfectly by her black bangs. Danny was wondering if he had truly woken up or if this was all just part of some dream.

"Danny, are you feeling okay?" Ruby asked, a concerned look on her cute face. She reached forward and placed a hand on Danny's forehead to check if he had a fever, causing the boy to flush a deep red. It didn't help that he realized his was practically naked in front of this cute girl he had never met before. "You seem a little too warm. I'll go get the nurse," Ruby said completely oblivious to the cause. She turned and left the room, Danny staring in open mouthed astonishment after her.

His suspicions that it was all some kind of weird dream were reinforced when the girl returned a moment later with a tiny woman waddling along behind her. The woman smiled at him, or at least he thought that was a smile. Her face was kind of strange so he might have been misreading it. "Hello there deary. You gave us a scare there, but if you are waking up this early then you should be fine in a few more hours." The woman said, her loud, cheerful and gentle voice not matching up with her body at all. Danny just watched her approach with his jaw hanging open slightly. "My name is Madam Shroom. I'm the nurse here at Beacon Academy." She said proudly, though the name was meaningless to Danny. "Would you mind telling me your name sweetie? I'm afraid I couldn't find any ID on you."

"Danny... Danny Fenton," Danny said as he tried to decide if any of this was real or not.

"Daniel hmm," Madam Shroom said with a nodded as she jotted a note down on a piece of paper she was holding. She didn't notice Danny twitch at the formal version of his name. "Well, it is good to meet you Daniel. I'm so very glad that you are well. I know that this might be hard on you, but could you tell me what the last thing you remember before you woke up is?"

"What was happen..." Danny started to repeat the question but the froze. Ruby and Madam Shroom watched as his eyes started to widened and his breathing became panicked. "Jazz! Sam! I have to save them!" Danny shouted, he tried to move his arms and legs and pain shot through his body.

"Stop, you mustn't strain yourself!" Madam Shroom shouted, but Danny was beyond reason.

"Jazz! Sam! I have to save them! Tucker! I need to get to him! Don't you understand! The world is ending! I don't have time to rest!" Danny was shouted angrily, panting like crazy in his mad desire to help his friends and sister. He managed to roll himself over, falling out of bed with the sheets still wrapped around his legs.

Ruby was to shocked to react. 'The world is ending.' Did Danny come from one of the worlds that had recently been claimed by the darkness?

"I... I need to help them," Danny said as he tried to crawl towards the door. He didn't even know where he was or how to get to his friends, but Madam Shroom had pulled out a clothe covered in ammonia and had pressed it against the boy's mouth. Danny continued to struggle. Ruby was shocked at how long her resisted the effects of the fumes, but finally his eyes stared to flicker and his arms went limp.

"Oh dear," Madam Shroom mumbled as she got off Danny's back. "So that's it. He is a survivor of a world that was lost to darkness. I wonder how he got all the way here?" Glancing over to see Ruby's solemn face, Madam Shroom tried to smile. "Don't you worry, deary. I'm sure that Mr. Ozpin will know exactly what to do. I'll make sure that he will see the boy right after the welcoming ceremony," Madam Shroom said, "Speaking of which, you need to get there right away. It wouldn't do for you to be late now would it?"

Ruby nodded though her eyes never left Danny's still form. Somehow, the entrance ceremony didn't seem all that important anymore.

* * *

Ruby had her head down as she finally moved into the assembly hall. She still couldn't help but to think about Danny.

"Hello baby sister!" Yang said proudly as she pulled Ruby into a headlock from behind. Ruby tried to get out of it, but Yang was a lot stronger than her. "So how has your first day been going, little sister?" Yang asked as she finally let good of her little sister.

Ruby looked over at Yang. She wanted to be upset. She wanted to be angry at her sister for leaving her alone. She wanted to tell her that it was her fault she was having a terrible day. But... what right did she have to complain.

So in the end, she just looked down to the ground and didn't say anything.

Yang's smile slowly disappeared. "Hey, what's the matter? Did something happen?" Yang asked Ruby as gently as she could.

"I lot of things happened," Ruby sighed, her head sinking even lower.

"You want to talk about it?" Yang pressed. She was a little worried that trying to make her little sister act more sociable might have backfired. She didn't seem like her normal energetic self at the moment.

Ruby didn't speak at first. She tried to work through her mind where she was even supposed to begin. Finally she started with a small sigh. "There was this... boy..." Ruby said sadly.

"...Go on..." Yang said through clenched teeth. Ruby was too wrapped up in what she was going to try to say to notice that her older sister's knuckles were popping as she clenched and unclenched her fists. The blond's glassy purple eyes turned a dark red as she considered what she would do to any punk who had bullied her baby sister. A few heads turned as a small wave of dark aura could be felt moving through the air.

But the murderous intent disappeared at Ruby's next words. "I found him behind a tree in the garden area. He was bleeding to death." Ruby said weakly. "Yang, he... he's a refugee from a world that was consumed by darkness. He looked like he was even younger than I am." Yang winced at those words. "Before I had found him I was having a horrible day. I felt so miserable that I just wanted to quit and go back to Signal. I can't believe how selfish I was being. So what if I blew up. At least I still have you and dad and our home. We're supposed to be trying to become Huntresses so that we can save people. I can't believe I let a little thing like a bad day make me forget that."

Yang pulled her little sister into a gentle hug. "Ruby, we are going to become Huntresses and save everyone. But we can't let thoughts like this consume our lives. Remember, we're people too. And if we push ourselves too hard, then who's going to rescue us?" Yang whispered into her sister's ear as she patted her head in a loving manner.

Ruby thought about it for a few moments and nodded. "Thanks sis... but don't ditch me again. I don't think I can take it."

Yang chuckled a bit. "Alright, I promise I won't ditch you. If you are going to be making awkward small talk, I'll stand right beside you while you do it."

"Yang... that's not what I meant," Ruby cried weakly, though she did feel a lot better. Her sister always had a way of cheering her up.

"Looks like there starting," someone said as Ozpin started to walk out onto a platform about them, "About time."

Ruby and Yang joined the rest of them at the base of the stage. No matter what happened, they had their goals, and that was what would keep them going.

* * *

Ozpin walked up onto the stage looking down at all of the new students. He saw many things in the eyes of the young people who had flocked to his school; hope, pride, ignorance, greed, fear, love, hatred, and most dangerous of all, hesitation. Weaknesses and strengths that would have to be beaten together to make half way decent Huntmen and Huntresses out of them.

Taking in a small breath, Ozpin started his prepared speech. "I'm going to keep this brief," He started in his calm tone. "You have traveled here today in the search of knowledge, to sharpen your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan on dedication your life to helping to protect others," He said, seeing smiles and nods among some of the students, those reactions didn't last long as the speech continued. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time here will prove to you that knowledge can only take you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." By the time Ozpin finished all of the students in the audience looked more than a little taken aback, confused and pondering the meaning behind his words.

That was good enough for him, to make sure that they started to at least try to think about reality rather than the silly fairy tales of heroes triumphing over evil that they told to little children. Ozpin half sighed as he walked off the stage and started for the nurse's office. He couldn't remember the last time the Light had been truly victorious in a war. With each conflict they lost more and more worlds to the darkness. Good men and women losing their lives for the cause. And now even the King was putting his life on the line. Ozpin couldn't help but to worry.

Ozpin entered the nurse's office to find Madam Shroom bent over her desk, a look of tired sadness that probably matched Ozpin's own. "Oh, Dr. Ozpin," Madam Shroom said, trying to put on her best smile for her boss, one that Ozpin returned.

"Hello Madam Shroom. How is the boy?" Ozpin asked, wanting to get down to business as soon as possible.

Madam Shroom's mouth twitched uncomfortably. "I have him tied down in the back room, for his own safety of course. He... I tried to talk to him, but he just won't listen." The dwarf woman said regretfully.

Ozpin nodded looking at the back room's door. He could hear a bit of moment coming from behind it. "I'll see if I cannot talk to him," Ozpin said before stepping past the woman to enter into the room.

"Ozpin... please be gentle with him," Shroom said weakly. But Ozpin didn't seem to hear her. Being 'gentle' was not something he was known for. Salt in the wound was actual a decent antibacterial agent. He was the light, brutally honest and hiding things from him was next to useless.

Pulling the curtains around the bed aside he found a small boy of fourteen years struggling against binds that held him to his hospital bed, his eyes were wide with panic as he desperately tried to escape his restraints.

"If you keep pushing yourself like this, you will never heal properly," Ozpin said, his commanding voice caused Danny to pause in his attempts to get free.

"Let me go," Danny said quickly, his eyes locking onto the older man. "You have to let me go. My friends. My family. I have to get to them."

Ozpin responded quickly, shocking Danny with his reply. "Alright." Ozpin said, lifting a coffee mug and taking a sip. "But first you will answer three of my questions, and then I will let you go. I think you will find that to be much faster than trying to break our restraints, and this way you won't be further injured." Ozpin said, this would force the boy to listen to what Ozpin himself had to say. Danny nodded, showing that he understood. Ozpin had all his attention.

"The first one is easy. Where are you from?" Ozpin said as he pulled out the chair Ruby had been sitting in just hours before and sitting down himself.

"I'm... I'm from Amity Park," Danny said, not sure why someone would ask that question.

"I see. Now for the second question. Where do you think you are right now?" Ozpin said, taking a second sip from his coffee as he watched the boy frown.

"I'm... I'm in Amity," He said, though he didn't sound too sure.

Ozpin shook his head. "I'm afraid that you aren't. This is Beacon Academy. An institute in a world called Vale." Danny's eyes widened as he heard that. "Now for your final question, then I will unlock your bonds. What do you think happened to your home world?"

"Th... there is still time. I wasn't done yet. I hadn't lost yet," Danny said, trying to deny what Ozpin was telling him, but Ozpin just shook his head sadly. Tears were coming to Danny's eyes. Deep down, he knew it was already too late. "But... but I..." The boy started to shake again. "Why... why am I still alive, if the world ended?"

"Destiny, fate, luck, chance, a set of conditions that couldn't be predicted. I honestly can't tell you. Little is known about what happens to a world once it is lost to the darkness. On occasion some people manage to survive the end of their worlds. Though usually they end up in Traverse Town rather than out here near the edge of the light," Ozpin said, knowing that his words would be meaningless to the boy, but that the fact that someone was talking about it would make him feel better. Or so Ozpin hoped. "I know that it sounds empty to hear this. But I am sorry for your lose."

Ozpin reached up and undid the boy's restraints before standing up. "I'm afraid I cannot promise you anything that you want right now. I can't promise vengeance. I can't promise that you will get your world or family back. I can't promise that it will ever stop hurting. All I can promise you is that we will help you find a way to move on, if you want us to help you."

Ozpin was half way to the door when Danny shouted something that caught him off guard. "Give me a ship!"

Ozpin turned around slowly, adjusting his glasses as he watched Danny pushing himself up in the sick bed. A look of determination in his eyes. "A ship? I am afraid that is a little outside of what we can offer you. And if you wish to fly out into the emptiness to search for you world then don't. You won't find it."

"I... I know that. But my sister and my friend Sam, they were taken away from my world by a man just before it was consumed. I need to find them. I have to save them from whatever they are trying to do," Danny said, "I need a ship."

Ozpin frowned. "A man took them away?"

Danny nodded. "He was controlling the heartless. I didn't get a name, but he had green eyes, with orange hair that grew out to cover one of them, and a stupid bowler hat," Danny said thinking back to the man who had been holding his sister, feeling the heat in his blood as the smirking face came to mind.

But Ozpin didn't respond. He knew that description, and even more, now that Danny was free of the aura restraints, he could feel the boy's power growing fast. It felt so familiar in nature, but he couldn't place it. "I see," Ozpin said, "Ships are not cheep. Regardless, I cannot give you one. Besides, going after this darkness is not safe for a child."

"I don't care," Danny said looking up at Ozpin. The teacher stared down into the boy's bright green eyes. Eyes that hadn't been green a moment ago. "I can't just sit back and forget about them. Even if it is only the shadow of a chance. I will do whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes?" Ozpin said raising an eyebrow.

This boy had somehow managed to survive the destruction of his world and come all the way to Beacon. Was such a thing just chance, or was it fate? The way he talked, Ozpin had the impression he had been fighting the heartless. And the feeling Ozpin was getting from the boy... it was so similar to the King's.

"Tell me. You faced the heartless correct? Do you honestly think you can fight against them?" Ozpin asked.

"I can, and I will," Danny said with a sharp nodded.

Ozpin nodded. "I told you that you are currently at Beacon Academy. Though I suppose you have never heard of it. This is a school that trains talented young men and women to fight the Heartless. In fact, tomorrow is going to be our initiation tests," Ozpin explained as he returned to Danny's bed side. Danny's eyes widened as he heard it. "Now, the Academy happens to have a few gummy ships for the purpose of going to worlds that are under attack by the forces of Darkness in order to protect them. So if you were to enter this academy, then the ship you need could very well be within reach. And as Headmaster of this school, I could let you take the exam. Though this would mean that you would have to fight against the heartless. You could easily die."

Danny heart was beating fast. He would have to fight against the Heartless again. He was scared to death of those monsters, and of the power he had to use to fight against them. But he couldn't just give up. He couldn't just leave his sister and Sam. He would never be able to live with himself if he did.

"Where do I sign up?" Danny said, trying to keep any sign of doubt out of his voice and face.

Ozpin smiled, "The exam starts tomorrow morning. I'll have someone sent to get you then. For now, get your rest. You will need it."

Ozpin then left the boy, shutting the door behind him. "Dr. Ozpin!" Madam Shroom said angrily as the headmaster left the room. "How could you even think of letting such a small child take the initiation test! He isn't ready! He could be killed!" The dwarf had no shame in having been listening at the door, she was a nurse and a mother who had lost her own babies, the safety of the children was all that mattered to her.

Ozpin smiled and shook his head. "And what would you have me do? Tell him that he must do nothing and let him live with the fact that he never even tried to help the only people he had left. If I had told you to do such a thing, would you have listened to me?" Ozpin asked, seeing the little woman deflate a little at the words. "Some things are worse than death."

"But he is just small dear. Why would you let him take the test now. You don't know if he is ready or not," Shroom said, sounding more worried than angry.

"Perhaps. Though there was something about his eyes," Ozpin said thinking back to the feeling he got from the boy's aura. "You don't see eyes like that every day."

Shroom sighed. It was just like Ozpin to decide such a thing based upon details like eye color, or how good the weather was on the day they met. "Ozpin, blue eyes and not uncommon," She said weakly.

"Blue you say," Ozpin said with a knowing smile, "and here I thought they were green."

* * *

"It's like a BIG slumber party!" Yang half shouted as she flopped down on the sleeping bag next to her sister. Every single one of the new students were crammed into the Ballroom, with nearly a hundred sleeping bags arranged on the floor. The atmosphere was a little loud since everyone had returned from putting on their pajamas, and were busy talking about the events that tomorrow might bring.

Ever since finding out that leaving her sister alone had not exactly gone as planned, Yang had tried to keep Ruby in her sight as much as possible. This just so happened to include sleeping a little bit away from her friends from Signal in order to be closer to Ruby to keep her from panicking when the number of people around her got to be too much.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though," Ruby joked as she glanced over at the muscle headed boys that were all trying to show off for their new girl classmates.

"I know I do. Rar..." Yang said in a goofy voice as she eyed the boys, even if she didn't say anything that was to her personal tastes. Ruby giggled a little at Yang's act, causing the older sister to give her one of her trademark grins, leading her to notices the small notebook that Ruby was writing in. "What you got there?" Yang asked out of curiosity. Ruby had never kept a journal.

"Oh... its just a letter back to the gang back at Signal," She mumbled, a little embarrassed as she tried to hide the words on the page from her sister. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things were going." Ruby wasn't very energized about it. Things had not gone very well so far.

"Oh that's so cute!" Yang said, dragging out the word 'cute' as she teased her little sister.

"Shut up!" Ruby said as she grabbed of of her fluffed pillows and throw it in her sister's face. "I didn't get to bring my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anybody!" Ruby pouted. Yang cut off the teasing. "I tried and I tried, but at the end of the day, my friend count is negative one," Ruby said as she thought of disaster with Weiss.

It had taken Ruby nearly four months to start to get friends back at Signal, and that was when she was the same age as everyone else. Now in a higher pressure environment, she was almost to scared to even try. Yang could see it in the way she held her breath every time someone new came to close to her. As if she could disappear off of their radar if they couldn't smell her breath.

Yang sighed and rolled over towards Ruby, pulling her into a one armed hug and patting her hair. "Ruby, not everyone here came from Signal. I'm sure that there are other girls here that are just as scared as you are, how didn't come here with any group of friends. And I'm sure that just like them, you will find a way to make some friends no problem," Yang said as she tried to comfort her little sister.

"But... I'm just no good at this," Ruby said miserable.

"Look, it's only been one day. You've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet," Yang said gently.

Ruby closed her eyes, trying to take in these words. "Thanks sis," She whispered quietly. Then the soft sounds of a match being struck and the light of a candle in the dark drew the two sisters' eyes.

"That girl." Even in the shadows cast by the candle, Ruby could still make out the dark hair and bow of the girl who had helped her when Weiss was on the attack. The flickering light made her look even more mysterious than before as she sat in her corner away from the other students, reading by the dim light of the candles. Her amber eyes still shining, even in the darkness.

"You know her?" Yang asked, a little impressed by the effect the girl had, looking more like a living panting than a real person.

"Not really," Ruby admitted, though the want was in her voice, "she helped me out a little this morning when I... uh..." Ruby cut off, not really wanting to talk about what had happened that morning. "But she left before I could say anything."

Yang could see her sister's regret and nervousness. So she decided to take things into her own hands. "Well now's your chance!" Yang said cheerfully as she grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" Ruby said in a panic as she tried to break her sister's grip, but Yang was simply too strong for anyone to just squeeze away from.

"We are going to say hi," Yang said as she pulled her sister along.

"What!? No please Yang. I don't know what I would say! I'm not wearing my lucky pajamas. I'm not ready," Ruby whimpered as she considered gnawing off her own arm to get away.

"Don't worry, I'll be with you to help this time," Yang said confidently. As they got closer to the girl the amber eyes darted up from the book as the sister's noise distracted the dark beauty from her reading. "Hello!" Yang said in a sing song voice, waving with her free hand as she dragged her sister out in front. "I believe you two have met each other." Ruby looked like she was hoping to simply fade away into nothingness rather than be where she was at the moment.

The black haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the girl that exploded?"

"Exploded?" Yang said questioningly as her baby sister blushed with embarrassment.

"Um... yeah," Ruby said as she tried to swallow down her own fears. She stood up straight but then found that she was standing to rigid. 'Act natural' she told herself as she tried to bend her knees and sway a bit to tried to get rid of her rigidness, only to end up looking even less comfortable. "M...my name's Ruby," She said, holding out a hand to shake, only to realize too late that the girl was sitting too far away for shaking hands and would have to stand up to shake. Another oversight.

"Hm," The black haired girl didn't seem to care and just turned back to her book.

Ruby started to panic even more. "But you can just call me Crater Fa... actually don't do that." Ruby started to tremble a little.

"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to her.

"I don't know. Help me," Ruby hissed back as he knees started to shake.

"So... what's your name?" Yang said with a smile as she tired to get something going.

"Blake," The girl said in a flat and simple voice, not even looking up as she did so.

Blake, well at least they managed to get a name. "Well Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister," Yang said confidently, "I like your bow."

"Thanks," Blake said as she turned a page in her book. Yang's confidence faltered at the realization that the girl was still paying so little attention to them that she could still be reading.

"It goes great with your... pajamas," Yang tried again. This time, Blake didn't even respond. "So... nice night we're having, huh?"

"Yes. Almost as nice as this book," Blake said, dropping the hint that she wanted them to go away. "That I will continue to read. As soon as you leave!"

Yang mentally kicked herself. Way to go showing her baby sister that small talk isn't scary. Picked a hell of a first target for it. She was just about to tell her sister that it was all a lost cause when she heard Ruby actual ask a question.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, a small hint of curiosity breaking through her nervousness.

"Huh?" Blake said, finally looking up.

"Your book. What's it about?" Ruby asked again, shifting nervously as she looked into the girl's amber eyes.

"Well... it's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body," Blake said, watching for Ruby's reaction. Yang didn't exactly like the sound of the book, but she was simply standing aside to let Ruby have her chance. Only a few things could get Ruby to come out of her shell. One of them was weapons, the second was books.

"I love books. Yang used to read them to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters, they're one of the reasons I want to be a huntress," Ruby admitted, rubbing her thumbs together as she zoned out.

"And why's that? Hoping you'll have your happily ever after?" Blake asked, only a little critical, but Ruby just smiled.

"I hope we all will," Ruby said thoughtfully. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the stories; someone who fights for what's right," her mind went to Danny, injured and dying, "and protects everyone who can't protect themselves."

Blake actually smiled. "That's quite the ambition. But unfortunately, the worlds don't work that way," Blake said, turning her book down in her lap.

"Well, that's why we're here. To make the worlds a better place for everyone," Ruby said, giving her own adorable smile.

Yang lost it. "Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" She cued as she grabbed Ruby in a massive bear hug, leaving the little sister confused and embarrassed again as she struggled to get free.

Blake chuckled at the display of sisterly love. "Well, Ruby, Yang, it was a pleasure to meet you two," Blake said with a smile.

Ruby was starting to feel giddy at having managed to make a friend, thinking that maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. But her optimism was brought down when an angry voice shouted over her and her sister's play fight. "What in the Worlds is going on around here!? Do you realize that some of us are trying to sleep!" Ruby gave a small gulp as the voice registered with her memory. She tried to hide behind her sister, but it was already too late. "Not you again!" Weiss Shnee said angrily as glared at Ruby.

"Eep," Ruby squeaked as she pulled her eyes shut, hoping that the scary girl would just go away if she didn't look at her.

"You're lucky we didn't get blow off the mountain earlier!" Weiss said angrily.

"Oh my god, you really exploded," Yang said with surprise.

"It was an accident. I... I tried to say I was sorry but..." Ruby started to mumble. But when she saw Weiss's cold eyes she just snapped her shut, starting to panic even more.

"Save it! A little kid like you shouldn't even be here. This isn't just some battle academy. We are going to be fighting real Heartless. So why don't you just go..." Weiss's words stopped to be replaced by a gagging sound. A small dark aura filled the room. One that Ruby recognized.

"So you are the shit that was bullying my baby sister," Yang said through clenched teeth. Ruby opened her eyes to see her big sister holding Weiss a half a foot off the ground by her throat. The white haired girl's eyes were full of panic as she stared down at Yang's eyes. The glassy purple orbs had turned a dark red as the older sister got angry. Ribbons of golden fire flickered along her hair, lighting up the room. Weiss's legs kicked up at Yang, but they just bounded harmlessly off of the enraged girl. "What's the matter? If you are such a big strong mature girl, then why can't you stop me from choking you?"

"Yang, please, I'm alright," Ruby said, grabbing onto Yang's arm and trying to get her to lower Weiss back to the ground. Whispers were going through the Ballroom as people's eyes focused on the bright light dancing along the surface of the brawler's golden hair. This was what happened when people made Yang too angry. Yang usually was an upbeat girl, cheerful and nice to everyone, but there were two things that could send her off deep end; people touching her hair and bullies picking on her baby sister.

Yang's red eyes went to Ruby. The pleading face of her little sister calming her down, till her eyes returned to purple. Yang dropped Weiss down onto her butt where the girl sat gasping for breath. "D...darksider," Weiss said when she finally had enough air to speak.

Yang's eyes momentarily flashed red again. Darksider was a derogative term for people who's powers had a root in darkness. It was a hateful word, and one that few would be dumb enough to use in the face of an actual user. "That's right. And if you don't stay the hell away from my baby sister, you'll see just how dark I can get," Yang said, taking an intimidating set forward, causing Weiss to scurry back a few inches.

"I think you have made your point, Ms. Xiao Long." Ozpin said as he stepped up towards the group of students. He had is coffee in hand, and a hardly interested expression on his face.

Weiss's eyes glued themselves to the headmaster. "Professor Ozpin! This girl assaulted me!" Weiss shouted, pointing a finger at Yang.

"Yes. I'm not blind," Ozpin said, though he did straighten his glasses. "What did you think was going to happen when you approach a dragon and start spitting on its treasure? I'm actually impressed with Ms. Xiao Long's self control. Her father would has broken your arm at the very least, and there is a good reason why we keep Qrow drunk."

"Thanks..." Yang said a little embarrassed. "Isn't it a little late to be drinking coffee?"

Weiss blinked in shock. "Aren't you going to punish her!? You're the headmaster after all!"

"Hm... I suppose you are right," Ozpin said, taking a short sip from his coffee. "Ms. Shnee. You will be taking mandatory edict classes once the semester starts."

"What!?" Weiss said in surprise.

"Ms. Shnee, you are not a local of this world. You come here and act as though you own the place, and step on toes that were better left untrodden on," Ozpin said sharply. "In a field mission, something like that would get you killed. You will learn this fact, or you will leave my academy. End of discussion."

Then Ozpin turned his eyes to Ruby. "Ms. Rose, I would like you to return to the nurse's office tomorrow morning. Since you have already met Danny, I would like you to be the one to show him around. I've decided to have him take the initiation test with you all tomorrow."

"Y...yes sir," Ruby said, not wanting to say anything that might get her into trouble, like being in a class or team with Weiss. But she couldn't help but question him letting the injured by run off into the heartless filled woods.

"Very good. Now all of you get some sleep. Your first day starts tomorrow," Ozpin said before walking away. "Oh, and welcome to Beacon Academy."

"Huh... that was interesting," Blake said as she pulled over her candles, and blew out the light.

* * *

Danny was back on the platform, standing in front of the white tree again. The air was just as still as before, but something felt different, lacking the charge it had before, when he was back at Amity. The tree itself seemed to have grown, and three of the buds seemed to have grew a little. A healthy glow came from the single flower that had bloomed, the silver chain still dangling from between its petals.

"I still haven't gotten a thank you!" Danny turned around to see his shadow sitting on the opposite side of the platform as the tree, in the same spot as last time. Its pale golden eyes seeming annoyed by the light that shimmered off of the tree. "I saved your ass back when your world was falling to pieces, brought you all the way here so that you could survive. And yet you haven't even said thank you. Talk about ungrateful," the shadow said bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" Danny said, turning to the shadow. He felt the Keyblade materializing in his hand. He wouldn't be afraid of this creature. He couldn't afford to be.

"When a world is consumed by the darkness, it returns to the nothingness. If I hadn't pulled you out of the stream when I did, we would be all the way past the Door of Darkness. No coming back after that trip," the shadow said, "So do I hear a thank you?"

Danny frowned. "Let me guess, you did it out of the kindness of your own heart? More likely it is because there aren't any good take out joints there." The shadow tilted its head back and laughed.

"You got me!" the shadow admitted with a shrug. "So, now that you have nothing left to live for, how about you just hand over your heart." The shadow stopped laughing as it felt cold metal pressed up against its neck. Danny and closed the distance between them and had the Keyblade pressed against up next to the shadow's shoulder, ready to take its head off. "Jeez take a joke."

"Just shut up," Danny said as he glared down at the Shadow. "I'm going to find Jazz and Sam. And you are going to help me do it. From know on, you work for me."

The shadow glared up at him with its bright golden eyes. "You think you're the boss of me? Fine. I'll play along. But you better watch it. Because sooner or later, that tree will wither, and then your heart is mine."

"I won't count on it." Danny said as he felt himself drifting away, back towards consciousness.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 3**

 **Not sure if I am going to have Ruby and Yang's weapons appear out of thin air Kingdom Hearts style, or have them carrying them around. Guess I have to decide by the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 4: The First Step part 1

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

Danny sat up in bed in the nurse's office, clenching and unclenching his right hand. He had healed up completely over night, and he felt good as new. More than that. He had never felt this healthy before in his entire life. Whatever Madam Shroom had done, it worked miracles.

Hearing the curtains moving about, Danny looked up to see the dwarf woman looking up at him, a bundle of clothes in her arms. "Hello dear, I'm afraid most of your old clothes are beyond repair, and they wouldn't have done you much good during your exam anyways. So I brought some things from the old lost and found that some students have left behind over the years. It's probably going to be a bit of a loose fit, and the armor enchantment are rather old, but it should do well enough against your standard Heartless again." Madam Shroom said, placing the bundle of clothes at the foot of Danny's bed.

"Thank you." Danny mumbled, though it didn't feel like enough. "Thank you for everything you've done."

Madam Shroom gave a small smile and walked over to him, placing a hand over him. Though her arms were as short as a ten year old girl's, her hands were large and meaty things, covered in callose fingers that spoke of hard labor in the past. "Daniel. I know how you feel." She said, looking up to him with eyes like coals. "I... I was... It's been seventeen years since..." She stumbled with her words, her eyes starting to tear up. "I was off planet, getting my medical license when it happened. I lost my family, my home... I suppose if I believed that there was a chance even one of them was still alive, and had the strength to fight, I probably would do exactly what you are trying to do right now. But since I didn't, I came here to Beacon, to help support those who could."

Danny tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry." He said, the words feeling hallow. How could you say 'your sorry' about something so extreme. It felt like to little, like saying 'thank you' to the one who saved your life.

"I understand that you feel like you need to do this. But... if it is too much, please just back out. Go to signal and train for the three years before trying again. I don't want to have to watch you die. Please, if you die, then who will be left? How will be lift to remember your world." Madam Shroom said, her eyes begging Danny to just back down.

"I'm sorry." Danny said again, slowly shaking his head. "I can't. I need to find them, and I will be as strong as I need to be. I won't let anything slow me down."

"Children. Always thinking they are invincible." Madam Shroom choked, rubbing away some of the tears that had formed. "I'll leave you alone to change. Dr. Ozpin said that your escort would be here in the morning. So just be careful." She turned and walked away with her strange waddle before closing the door behind her, leaving Danny alone to get dressed.

Danny sighed, trying to push down the feeling of guilt that were raising up inside of him. He needed to do this. He needed to do this. He needed to do this.

What else was he supposed to do? Give up on his sister, on his friend. Live a happy life far away from it all, knowing all the while that he abandoned them. This was the only option he had. The only one that wouldn't cost him his heart.

So he got out of bed and grabbed the clothes. Getting ready for the battles that were to come.

* * *

Ruby Rose stood outside the nurse's office door, looking up at the plaque on top of it, as if hoping that the writing on the top would suddenly change if she stared at it long enough. Her knees were trembling a bit as she reached out to for the doorknob before stopping, turning herself ninety degrees and trying to make a run for it.

"Not so fast there little sister." Yang said as she grabbed onto Ruby's red hood, pulling her back before she could get anywhere.

"No, Yang please. I just remembered that I forgot to... um... brush my teeth." Ruby said, inventing an excuse to try to get away.

"Yes you did, I was there." Yang said pulling her back and placing both hands on her little sister's shoulders. "Just calm down, deep breaths and we will talk you through this. You did fine yesterday with Blake." Yang said, trying to keep eyecontact with his little sister while Ruby was determined to find anything to distract her rapidly accelerating mind.

"Butwhatifthatwasjustafluck. ImeanIdon'tthinkIamready. DidImentionmyteetharereallydirt!" Ruby said, trying against to pull away Yang. Yang grabbed the hood with both hands and pulled it down over Ruby's eyes. The girl continued to shift around for a few seconds before stopping.

"You ready to talk?" Yang asked, letting the girl nodded before she let go of the hood to fall back down off the girl's black and red hair. "Alright. Now you talked to this boy yesterday. How did that go?" Yang said trying to get her sister to think about what they would do when they got through the door.

"Well... I found him underneath the tree out front bleeding to death... then I took him to the nurses office." Ruby said slowly pointing at the door. "I met Madam Shroom, and she was really nice. And then the boy woke up and I introduced myself. He introduced himself... kind of... and then had a panic attack because he thought he was still in a world that was ending and Madam Shroom had to knock him out before he hurt himself."

"So... you really don't know anything about him?" Yang said, summarizing it.

"...No..." Ruby squeaked.

"Hey now. There is no reason to worry. You help save him right? So of course he is going to want to be friends with you. That's just how the worlds work, right?" Yang said, trying to encourage her little sister.

"Y...yeah." Ruby said nodded before turning back towards the door again, this time turning the nod. But that was as far as she got. "Yang... push me..."

Yang sighed before giving Ruby a light shove, forcing her to both open and stumble through the door.

Madam Shroom looked up from her desk and smiled her odd smile as she saw Ruby tumbling in. "Good morning deary, did Dr. Ozpin send you to show Daniel around today?" Her gentle tones and small demeanor helping Ruby to calm down.

"Yeah, he did. Though since I don't really know my way around this place. I suppose that just means well will get to get lost together." Ruby said, making an attempt at humor as she scratched the back of her head.

Madam Shroom chuckled good-naturedly, giving Ruby even more confidence as she nodded. "Yes, I suppose this place was put together with magic, so it isn't very intuitively laid out. I can print you out a map to help you get around. How does that sound?" Madam Shroom said with a smile.

"Yes please." Ruby said with a nodded, rubbing her feet together with a bit of embarrassment.

"See, nothing to worry about." Yang said as she came in behind Ruby. "Hi there, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. Thank you for helping her out yesterday." Yang said with her usual energetic smile.

"Oh, its nice to meet you Yang, and it was no trouble, no trouble at all. Your sister is a very sweet girl. I look forward to getting to know each of you better during your time here. Though I hope you come here willingly, rather than being sent." Madam Shroom said with a chuckle.

"We'll try." Ruby said, with a smile of her own, until her eyes found the door that led to the beds. She could hear the boy moving around on the other side of the door. "How is he?" She asked, wondering if it was alright to ask that question at all.

Madam Shroom's eyes followed Ruby's to the door before the older woman gave a soft sigh. "All things considered, he is doing quite well. Though he isn't going to be making it easy for himself."

"I don't get it. He shows up out of nowhere, and Opzin just lets him into the entrance exam. What gives?" Yang said crossing his arms. "From what I've been told he's even younger than Ruby. What makes Ozpin think he can handle it?"

"Yang..." Ruby hissed, trying to tell her not to play up the whole 'age card'.

"To be honest, I don't know. I'm not even sure if Ozpin himself knows." Madam Shroom said, shaking her head. "You'll find that Dr. Ozpin is a firm believer in 'destiny'. I suppose that he believe that fate lead the boy to our doorstep."

"But... he could die." Ruby mumbled, not sure whether or not she wanted to be heard.

"Yes. We know. But all the same, there are things worse than death. We cannot tell him to live his life knowing he didn't try to save the only family he has left. It would be curl beyond words. He'd be better off dead." Madam Shroom said sadly.

Talking stopped as the door to the hospital beds opened and Danny stepped out.

The clothes he had been given were a little odd on him. The dark blue shorts were two sizes too large, and seemed baggy, falling down to just below his knees, though a belt kept them from sliding off him all together. A large white tshirt was covered with a pale blue jacket that was probably once owned by a girl and was the only article of clothing that seemed to fit properly. A large water droplet emblem was sewn onto the back of the jacket which somehow made the whole look come together and stopped him from looking like an idiot in hand-me-down clothes.

"Daniel, it looked like all of those clothes will do for now. That's good. I believe you remember Ruby from last night, she and her sister, Yang, will be showing you around until you all take the exam together." Madam Shroom said, gesturing to Ruby and Yang.

Danny saw Ruby and blushed a bit. "Um... sorry. You didn't exactly see me at a good moment." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Oh yeah... It's alright. I'm sure I would have been freaking out too if I was in your shoes." Ruby replied, just as awkwardly.

Yang looked for one to the other as the awkwardness grew. "Well, as much fun as this conversation is, how about we start moving, you know, sometime this year."

"Alright, lead the way." Danny said, slightly intimidated by the blond bombshell that walked past him to grab a map from Madam Shroom before turning and leading the way out.

After the kids had left, Madam Shroom turned back to her desk and placed her head down on it. "Ozpin. I sure hope you are right."

* * *

 **A little heavier than my other story of the same category.**

 **I decided to change it from DP X Kingdom Hearts to DP X RWBY, since the characters are mostly from DP and RWBY and I won't be using any characters from Kingdom Hearts for a long time (beyond the short mentions I have already used.)**


	6. Chapter 4: The First Step part 2

**I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment purposes only, no money involved.**

* * *

"We finally found it!" Ruby shouted before collapsing on the floor, Danny falling to the ground as well as his tired legs gave out. They had been walking around for almost two hours trying to find where they were supposed to be going.

The little performance earned them a few looks from the people who were already in the locker room, changing into their combat gear in preparation for the test. If Danny wasn't so tired, he would have marveled at all the different kinds of high tech weapons and devices that the other students were casually performing maintenance checks on.

"I thought we would be walking in circles forever." Danny mumbled, his face pressed against the cool tile floor.

"I forgot how bad my sister was with maps." Ruby said as she pushed herself up off the ground. "I should how known things would turn out badly when she said she wanted to take the scenic route."

Yang still as full of energy and chipper as she was when the small group set out began to laugh. "Come on you two, where is your sense of adventure? The journey is more important than the destination." She said with a cheerful grin before looking to Danny. "Mind waiting while we grab our stuff? Should only take a minute."

"As long as I don't have to move from this spot." Danny said as he closed his eyes.

"Actually, you don't, our lockers are right here." Yang said walking up to a locker before patting her sides. "Where did I put the combination again? Oh well." She said before punching the locker three times, the metal plated door vibrated for a few seconds before slowly opening. She looked over to her little sister, only to find her missing from the spot she had been lying a second before. Turning to the girl's locker, she found Ruby standing there, her locker already open and her cradling a large red and black metal object, as if it was her baby. "Well don't you seem much more cheerful. Looking forward to the exam are you?" Yang asked her baby sister with a playful grin.

"You bet, no more milling around or awkward small talk. Today, I get to let my sweet heart do all the talking." Ruby said as she rubbed her face against the cool metal.

Yang's smile slowly fell. Ruby was happy about running to the jaws of death because it meant no social interaction. "You know, you're going to have to work with other people sooner or later. I mean, what are you going to do when everything starts forming partners." Yang said, trying to edge the topic of discussion into range without having her little sister shutting down.

Danny's head shot up at hearing those words, he hadn't heard anything about partners. He had never had any luck making friends beyond Sam and Tucker. This might be bad.

It seemed like Ruby's own thoughts were along the same lines and she started to squirm uncomfortably. "Well I guess I will just partner up with you." She said, avoiding her sister's gaze.

"Oh... I was hoping that... maybe you would try partnering with someone else. Meet new people." Yang said, getting ready for it to backfire in her face. Running her hand through her hair the way she did whenever she got nerves about something.

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you don't want to be partners with me?" Ruby said, trying to act confrontational, though fear was plain as day in her eyes.

"No! Nononono... I was just thinking that it might help you to break out of your shell if you partnered up with someone else." Yang said hoping her sister would warm up to the idea at least, even if they ended up partnering up anyways in the end. "Ruby, you need to at least consider working with other people. Its part of growing up."

Ruby groaned. "You sound like dad." She said in frustration. "First of all, what does making friends have to do with fighting? And second, I don't need other people to help me grow up. I drink milk." She said with an odd amount of finality for that sentence.

"You're the one who sounds like dad. There is more to life than just fighting. Back me up Danny." Yang said turning to the boy who had up till then been watching quietly.

"Huh?" Danny said in the intelligent manner one would expect from a guy suddenly dragged into the middle of an argument between two girls.

"Danny tell her I'm right. I should have to be forced to partner up with people I don't know." Ruby said also turning to the boy.

Danny had never felt so small as when the two girls were staring down at him. So he did what any guy would do in that situation, change the subject. "What exactly are you holding there?" He asked, pointing to the object in Ruby's arms. Lucky for him, the was the one question that would get him a out.

Ruby's face immediately brightened and all talk of social interaction was forgotten to her. "This is my baby; Crescent Rose." She said, holding the device tight before swinging it around. Danny backed up as the rectangle unfolded into a massive scythe, nearly twice the size of the little girl that wielded it.

"Wow! Is... is that a scythe?" Danny said, not sure if he would be impressed or pissing himself.

"It's also a custom, high impact, sniper rifle." Ruby said, pulling back on a spring loader that was sticking out of the side. Danny could hear the bullet sliding into place inside of the massive weapon.

"Wow." Danny said again, his mind trying to wrap itself around how the inner workings of such a machine must be like.

"What do you have?" Ruby asked with a smile, curious as to the new boy's weapon.

Danny's face fell. Compared to Ruby's sniper scythe, his keyblade looked like a silly toy. "Um... well..." He stammered looking into the girl's curious silver eyes. "Promise not to laugh?" He said.

"I'd never laugh at someone's weapon. They are parts of who we are, extentions of our vary beings... they are all sooooo cool." Ruby said, though her sister, Yang, looked less excited, annoyed that she had suddenly forgotten all about their conversation. Though since her sister's nervousness had disappeared upon the mention of weaponry, she would let it slide.

Danny took a breath and raised his right hand, focusing on the image of the tree in his mind, feeling the chain passing between his fingers. He could almost hear the rattle of each of the links inside of his mind as his fingers pulled at something that wasn't there. Then, with a flash of bright light, Danny was holding the massive key in his outstretched hand. "Well, here it is." Danny said, a little embarrassed. The flash of light had managed to gather an unwanted amount of attention.

"Is that a keyblade?" Ruby's voice was rather flat as her eyes widened, her scythe folded up and was pushed into a holder underneath her red cape. Before Danny could even react, she had rushed forward, grabbing his wrist and pulling his arm out straight so that she could look at the blade, her eye just inches away from it. "I've never seen a real one before! Where did you get it!? How does it handle!? What is the weight distribution like!? How do you call it!.." The girl didn't even stop to breath as she fired question after question at Danny.

"Um, you want to hold it?" Danny said in a daze. Ruby looked at him with her huge silver eyes, nodding rapidly. Danny handed the weapon to her and she started looking over every inch of it. "Is she... ok?"

"Yeah she's just a weapons nut." Yang said, though her eyes were also fixed on the blade. "Have to admit though, I've never seen one outside of a rusty piece that had at an old museum."

"I didn't know it was anything special. I thought it was just a big key I could club things with." Danny said.

"You could say that they are something special alright." Another girl walked up to the group, one who was dressed in a black dress with a white blouse underneath it. The bow on her head looked natural on her long black hair and with her amber eyes, she reminded Danny of a cat. "Keyblades are tools for hunting Heartless. Though their aren't very many wielder left around." The girl smiled past Danny at Yang. "I was getting worried that you two wouldn't show up."

"We got a little lost." Yang said with a cheerful laugh. "Though Ruby is still lost in her own little world right now. Oh, Danny, this is Blake."

"Yeah..." Danny said, though his eyes had returned to the key sword, watching as Ruby tried to swing it around, testing its momentum. It felt so wrong for her to be touching it. He regretted letting her hold it.

Ruby stumbled as the key disappeared from her hands in a flash of light and returned to Danny. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but last time he was under the calming effects of the darkness, so Danny was still a little surprised at the sudden disappearing act. Though as he felt its light move into him, his body naturally swayed so that he was holding it in a steady position to the side of his body.

He had expected Ruby to be annoyed that the weapon had vanished on her, but instead she was still overly excited. "Oh so they can do that!" She shouted with something approaching a squeal. "What's its name? It has a name doesn't it?"

"Name..." Danny mumbled his mind wondering to the weapon. "Her... her name is Last Chance." He said as the blue 'X' on the blade glinted in the light that came from within it. He didn't know where the name had come from, or why he had called the blade a 'her', but it felt right to him.

"Last Chance. It's a sad name, but it seem nice. She's a good weapon." Ruby said with her childish smile.

"Alright Ruby, enough of that. Come back down to Remnant." Yang said, walking up and putting her hands on Ruby's shoulders and shaking her playfully. "We've got company."

At the word company, Ruby suddenly crashed and her head spun around until she saw Blake. "Blake! Hi!.. You saw all that didn't you?" Ruby said embarrassed. Blake only answered with a chuckle. Then Ruby noticed some other people pointing. "Oh great... I think I'll just go hide underneath a nice rock until everyone just forgets about that." She said, turning as red as the tips of her hair.

"It wasn't all that bad. I was just coming over here to greet you two." Blake said, trying to continue the friendly atmosphere of the previous night. "I hear we are going to be dividing into partners right after the exam. I suppose you and your sister are going to be a team?"

Ruby looked to Yang with puppy dog eyes. "Probably." Yang said, trying not to roll her eyes as Ruby gave a silent cheer. "How about you? Manage to get a would be ally?"

"I figured I would just go with whatever roulette system they got here. Let my cards land where they may." Blake shrugged. "If things don't go too while, I'll just arrange for an accident to happen and work alone."

"That's a great plan..." Yang said with a lop sided smile, as if the thought terrified her. "How about you Danny, you have any ideas about this whole partner thing?"

Danny gave a dumb chuckle. "I was hoping to just go alone really... I'm not even sure how to fight in a group. Think there is an opt out option?" Danny asked nervously. Though his reasons to opt out were more along the lines of this being a school for Heartless Hunters, and he was on the verge of turning into a Heartless, than simply not wanting a teammate.

"I am surrounded by the most social backwards people in this entire place." Yang said with a sigh. "I wonder if you guys are going to form a club or something."

Danny sat down on a bench near the exit while the girls when to the restroom to get into their combat duds. He was trying to focus on his breath, to calm his raging heart which felt like tearing itself out of his chest out of panic. He hadn't known that everyone was going to be three years older than him. Even Ruby was older than he was, and she was supposed to be considered the early bird. Not to mention that most of these guys looked like they had people like him for breakfast. The average height around the guys there was at least six foot two, so Danny's wimpy five foot two inches made him feel like he was as small as Madam Shroom.

Finally, to calm himself down, he tapped into the darkness, just a little, slowing his heartbeat and bringing things into a sharper focus.

"Jeez, a Keyblade, here, I can't believe it." One of the guys side, catching Danny's ear.

"Hate to be the poor sucker who gets stuck being that kid's partner." Another said with a laugh. Danny frowned as he concentrated a little harder to hear the conversation.

"Yeah, Keyblades are Heartless magnets. The second the kid sets toe outside the barrier, ever Heartless in the entire forest will be gunning for him." The first person laughed. "Though I guess that makes our job easier. At least until he kicks the bucket."

Danny could hear them laughing. But it wasn't the fact that they were finding his death funny that was getting to him.

Was the Keyblade really a Heartless magnet? If so, was he the one who lead the Heartless to Amity in the first place? No, that couldn't be it. That man had been the one leading the Heartless, and he had been shocked to see Danny holding the Keyblade.

Even so, if the Heartless were going to be after him, then he would have to face them alone. His conscious wouldn't let him have someone else being put in harms way because of him. He would not get a partner.

It was for the best, he wasn't going to be staying at the academy anyways. He just needed to get in, and then he would be off to search for Jazz and Sam.

"Danny, come on, the exam is starting soon!" Yang shouted out to the boy. Danny got up without a word. He would succeed. He couldn't let anything get in his way.

"Hold on guys. I'm coming as soon as I can."

* * *

 **I was actually going to delete all this and start the part over because it was too upbeat, but I didn't have anything to post today so I just cleaned this up a bit and am putting it up.**


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